Aurora, Milford clash in classics

Aurora Huskies
Aurora basketball
Milford Eagles
Milford basketball
  • A scramble for the loose basketball between Aurora's Sam Jones (middle) Ryan Staehr (right) and Milford's Connor Adams.
    A scramble for the loose basketball between Aurora's Sam Jones (middle) Ryan Staehr (right) and Milford's Connor Adams.
  • Aurora's Kaitlyn Staehr plays tight defense during a 43-34 loss to Milford Thursday.
    Aurora's Kaitlyn Staehr plays tight defense during a 43-34 loss to Milford Thursday.

    Aurora and Milford played two thrillers Thursday night that provided basketball fans their entire monies worth.

    The Lady Huskies had the Class C1 No. 1 Eagles on the ropes late in the fourth quarter, but Milford escaped A-Town with a 43-34 win while the Huskies completely shut down Milford's offense in the second half of a 51-39 win.

    Aurora's girls trailed by 16 in the first half before eventually tying the game at 31-all after a Vivi Fahrnbruch three-ball with three minutes left in the game. 

    Milford responded like the top teams do, though, finishing the game on a 12-3 run to get the win. 

    Kaitlyn Staehr led Aurora with 13 points and three blocks while Evelyn Kraus added nine points and four rebounds. Milford standout Shayla Rautenberg tallied 20 points on 9 of 13 shooting with seven rebounds and three blocks. 

    On the boys side, the Huskies and Eagles scored 33 combined points in the first quarter before Milford pulled ahead at the half, 31-23.

    After scoring an early three in the second half to lead by 11, Aurora's defense completely took over. The Huskies held Milford to just eight second half points and a 12-minute game time scoring drought. Jaxson Slagle scored seven third quarter points while Canon Allen and Brooks Handrup each made key threes in the fourth to pull away for the win.

    The Huskies aren't done yet this week, set for a road trip to O'Neill Saturday. 

    For live updates from the sidelines follow us on X @SportsANR and see next week's News-Register for full coverage.