Deuel won an early-season showdown of unbeaten teams by posting a 73-53 boys basketball win over Britton-Hecla on Friday but the Braves rebounded with a 55-45 win over Tri-State on Saturday.
The split left Coach Troy Knecht’s club with a 3-1 season mark heading into a home game with Milbank last night Tuesday. The Braves have a busy week, playing at Redfield on Thursday, hosting Great Plains Lutheran on Friday, and traveling to Wilmot on Tuesday. All contests are twin bills with the girls’ squad.
“I kind of look at all of the games before the second semester starts as the preseason,” said Knecht. “It’s an opportunity to try a few things and see where we are personnel-wise and you also get a chance to start to form your identity as a team. I like our effort, our improved understanding of space, and the fact that we are getting more shots to go in.
“I think we are shooting 39% which is much better than what we’ve done the last three seasons when we’ve been a 30% shooting team,” Knecht added. “If we can get more free throws to go, continue to rebound, and fine tune our defense I think we have chance to win some games and be a really good team by the time the postseason rolls around. Mentally we are going to have to be able to handle our ups and downs, because there will be both. I like what I see and I’m excited to keep improving.”
Deuel 73
Britton-Hecla 54
Deuel used a 24-point first quarter to grab a 19-point halftime advantage and then held on as the two clubs battled on even terms for the final two periods.
The Braves did cut the halftime deficit to nine in the third period and trailed at the break 53-41, but Deuel rebounded with a 20-point final stanza to keep Knecht’s crew at bay.
“Going into the Deuel game we knew they would be the most talented team we had played so far,” noted the Braves’ boss. “They have four guys who can handle the ball and are capable shooters when they’re open. Their speed is really what affected us though. They pushed the ball and caught us trailing in transition all night. This led to us fouling and them getting open looks on quick ball reversals when we were scrambling to get our defense set.
“We imploded in the second quarter and could never recover from it,” said Knecht. “The second half was actually a one-point game, but this game was won in the first half. It was a good lesson for us in a lot of ways. We need to get back on defense and handle adversity better. I think we were a little complacent being 2-0. We are still learning how to be a winning team and there will be growing pains. Our zone defense also got exposed a few times and we can make some adjustments to help that out.”
Graham Fosness both netted 12 points for the Braves, Daniel Person added 11, and Will Richter 10. Fosness and Chaz Vietor both pulled down seven rebounds and Fosness grabbed six as the Braves battled Deuel to a 35-35 tie on the boards. Person came up with four steals and Richter was credited with four assists.
BRITTON-HECLA: Will Richter 4 1-2 12, Ben Folkman 1 1-2 3, Mitchell Burger 1 0-0 2, Nathan Folkman 0 0-2 0, Graham Fosness 3 5-6 12, Daniel Person 5 0-0 11, Chaz Vietor 3 0-0 6, Jordyn McGregor 1 0-0 2, Jaxon Zuehlke 1 2-2 5. Totals 19-48 8-12 53.
DEUEL: Troy Jenson 5 1-2 13, Caden Finnesand 7 2-2 22, Jaxon Peterreins 4 0-0 10, Gabe Sather 6 1-3 16, Chase Dailey 0 1-2 1, Griffin Nielsen 1 0-0 2, Gavin Maaland 1 0-0 2, Nolan Gubrud 1 0-0 2, Caleb Ronne 1 3-3 5. Totals 27-59 8-12 73.
BH (2-1) 12 24 41 53
Deuel (4-0) 24 43 53 73
3-point goals - Richter 3, B. Folkman, Fosness, Person, Zuehlke; Jenson 2, Finnesand 6, Peterreins 2, Sather. Fouled out – Person. Total fouls – BH 19, Deuel 16.
Britton-Hecla 55
Tri-State 45
Britton-Hecla led 31-29 at halftime and then outscored the hosts 24-16 in the second half to get back on the win track.
“This was a great bounce-back game for us on a 20-hour turnaround,” said Knecht. “We played hard and cut our turnovers down, which is very important. We shot 28 free throws which indicates we were aggressive getting to the basket. Unfortunately we only made half of those, but I’ve seen improvement there and we will continue to put time in at the charity stripe. If we make four or five more free throws and a couple more three-pointers go in that’s a 20 point game. We held them to 16 points in the second half and executed well down the stretch when we were ahead.”
Daniel Person led the Braves with 14 points and Graham Fosness had 11. The Braves won the board battle 35-27, led by Fosness with nine, Jaxon Zuehlke had six, and Person and Jordyn McGregor five each. Zuehlke and Person both had three steals and Will Richter had four assists.
BRITTON-HECLA: Will Richter 2 3-6 7, Ben Folkman 2 0-2 6, Nathan Folkman 1 1-1 3, Graham Fosness 4 2-7 11, Daniel Person 5 4-6 14, Chaz Vietor 1 0-0 2, Jordyn McGregor 2 3-4 7, Jaxon Zuehlke 2 1-2 5. Totals 19-47 14-28 55.
TRI-STATE: Jackson Steffens 3 1-4 10, Jayden Lick 2 0-0 5, Jeff Krueger 2 0-0 5, Carson Sebek 0 0-2 0, Travis Peterson 3 1-2 7, Wylie Rydell 4 0-0 10, Zachery Smith 4 0-0 8. Totals 18-60 2-8 45.
BH (3-1) 15 31 45 55
TS 14 29 36 45
3-point goals – B. Folkman 2, Fosness; Steffens 3, Rydell 2, Lick, Krueger. Fouled out – Smith. Total fouls – BH 17, TS 23.
