Britton-Hecla’s boys basketball team put together one of its best halves of the season against a strong Deuel ballclub on Thursday but is still looking for its first win of the season.
Deuel had lost just once to number rated De Smet but the Braves hit three treys in the second period and held a fourpoint lead at halftime before Deuel went on a 17-2 run during an eight-minute stretch in the third and fourth periods on the way to a 53-41 win.
Coach Troy Knecht’s crew, now 0-4, will be back in action on Tuesday when they play a twin bill with the girls’ squad at Milbank.
“Heading into the Deuel game I was most concerned with what our response would be after coming out so poorly against Webster,” said Knecht. “The boys really got after it early. We played excellent defense and made some open shots. We also gave ourselves extra opportunities with some really good offensive rebounding.
“Unfortunately, in the second half we couldn’t keep it going. Two of our starters got in foul trouble and that really hurt our personnel rotations which led to some less than desirable offense.”
Jaxon Zuehlke sandwiched a pair of fielders around a trey in the first minutes of the second period to stretch a 13-12 B-H lead to 20-12. Additional three-pointers from Ty Fagerland, and Daniel Person gave the Brvaes a 26-22 edge at intermission.
When Person converted an inbounds play with 4:57 left in the third period B-H still led 30-29, but then came the Deuel run that put them on top 46-32 with 6:16 to play. Jordyn McGregor hit a baseline jumper and Fagerland converted a fastbreak to make it 46-36 with five minutes left, but a 7-0 Deuel run put the game away. Zuehlke had 11 points and 10 rebounds and Person added nine counters and seven boards to lead the Braves. Heading into the 2024 portion of the schedule Knecht is looking for more consistency from his club. “We need to find some consistency on offense and we will use the Christmas break to address that. I’m really happy with our effort on defense right now and it’s something we can hang our hat on in this program if the kids continue to work on that end. We have to find a path to consistency, however, and I feel like preparation is a big part of that. Not only in practice, but also watching film and learning from it and being mentally focused and ready for every minute of a contest. The great teams are locked in all the time, so if we want to be great we need to take the right steps to get there.”
DEUEL : Troy Jenson 1 0-0 2, Trey Maaland 8 8-9 28, Jaxon Peterreins 3 0 0 9, Gabe Sather 4 1-5 9, Caleb Ronne 2 1-1 5. Totals 18-42 10-15 53.
BRITTON-HECLA: Ty Fagerland 3 0-0 8, Dawson Treeby 1 0-0 2, Daniel Person 4 0-0 9, Graham Fosness 0 2-2 2, Jordyn McGregor 3 0-0 6, Jaxon Zuehlke 4 0-0 11, Payton Person 1 0-0 3. Totals 17-61 2-2 41.
Deuel (4-1) 12 22 40 53 BH (0-4) 13 26 32 41 3-point goals –Maaland (4), Pe terreins (3); Fagerland (2), D. Person, Zuehlke, P. Person. Total fouls – Deuel 13; BH 14.
