sketball team took two of three contests during the past week and boosted its season mark to 5-2.
Coach Troy Knecht’s club downed Great Plains Lutheran 51-49 on Friday, stopped Redfield 74-49 on Thursday, and fell to Milbank 56-43 last week Tuesday.
The Braves traveled to Wilmot last night Tuesday, host Florence-Henry on Thursday (C 5 p.m,, JV, varsity to follow), and take on Waubay-Summit at Summit on Monday.
Britton-Hecla 74
Redfield 49
Britton-Hecla exploded for 42 second half points to roll past Redfield after leading by just seven at halftime.
“Our first half was a little rough but we managed to take a lead into the half,” Knecht noted. “We talked about some things and the kids played really well after the break. They played zone and we shared the ball, spaced the court and made the right cuts. Defensively we were better than Milbank but we still have work to do. There’s plenty of season left so I’m sure we will make some strides there. We gave ourselves a lot of extra opportunities with offensive rebounds, as well, which was great to see.”
Jaxon Zuehlke led a balanced scoring effort with 14 points, Chaz Vietor added 12 and Daniel Person 11. Zuehlke had a big night on the boards with 13, seven of those on the offensive end. Vietor pulled down seven. Jordyn McGregor had four steals and Person was credited with five assists.
BRITTON-HECLA: Jaxon Zuehlke 5 3-8 14, Chaz Vietor 6 0-0 12, Daniel Person 5 0-0 11, Ben Folkman 3 0-0 9, Will Richter 4 0-0 8, Nathan Folkman 3 0-0 7, Jordyn McGregor 3 1-2 7, Graham Fosness 1 4-5 6. Totals 30 8-15 74.
REDFIELD: Grady Hulscher 6 0-0 16, Ethan Falk 5 3-7 13, Ruben Alvarez 5 2-2 13, Jackson Rude 2 2-2 7, Micah Zastrow 0 0-2 0. Totals 19 7-13 49.
BH (4-2) 15 32 54 74
Redfield (0-4) 11 25 38 49
3-point goals – Zuehlke, Person, B. Folkman 3, N. Folkman; Hulscher 2, Alvarez, Rude. Total fouls – BH 16; Redfield 17.
Milbank 56
Britton-Hecla 43
Britton-Hecla managed just three points during an 11 ½-minute stretch of the second and third periods to allow Milbank to come back from an eight-point deficit.
The Braves were in command early. Jaxon Zuehlke scored four points to lead B-H to a 12-7 lead at the first quarter break, and then Graham Fosness swished back-to-back treys to open the second quarter and give his club an 18-10 advantage.
But then came the scoring drought. Milbank scored 12 straight to end the opening half with a 22-18 lead and opened the third stanza with a 14-3 run to grab a commanding 36-24 lead. The closest the Braves could get the rest of the way was when Jordyn McGregor converted a steal to cut the margin to 11 points with 1:41 remaining in the game.
“We had a decent first quarter and a strong fourth,” said Knecht. “Our defense was awful at times. We let them penetrate at will and really made it easy for them to get us out of position. Rebounding was a big concern also and that was a product of chasing them around all night. This is a game that got away from us I believe. We just weren’t ready to play.”
Fosness and McGregor both netted 11 for B-H, and Zuehlke added 10 points and 11 rebounds. Daniel Person had three steals and three assists, and Fosness had three blocked shots.
MILBANK: Sam Rick 10 1-7 24, Graham Lightfield 4 2-3 12, Josh Howard 0 0-2 0, Emmett Hanson 2 0-1 4, Ryan Keeton 1 0-0 3, Jeter Scoular 3 0-0 7, Esteban Abrago 2 0-0 4, Hurley Zemlicka 1 0-0 2. Totals 23 3-12 56.
BRITTON-HECLA: Will Richter 2 0-0 5, Graham Fosness 4 0-0 11, Daniel Person 2 6-12 11, Jordyn McGregor 1 0-2 2, Jaxon Zuehlke 4 2-4 10, Chaz Vietor 2 0-1 4. Totals 15 8-19 43.
Milbank (1-3) 7 22 43 56
BH (3-2) 12 18 26 43
3-point goals – Rick 3, Lightfield 2, Keeton, Scoular; Richter, Fosness 3, Person. Fouled out – Fosness. Total fouls – Milbank 14; BH 18.
Britton-Hecla 51
Great Plains Lutheran 49
Britton-Hecla’s Chaz Vietor hit a pair of free tosses with six seconds to play to help the Braves to their win.
“This was an exciting game for the kids and the fans,” said Knecht. “As a coach I’m looking back thinking, ‘we should’ve won this going away,’ but I know we are young and it’s going to take some time to develop consistency for 32 minutes. We got our hands on a lot of balls on defense and I think they banked in a couple threes and two point buckets as well. There were also a lot of 50/50 balls coming off on defense that we just couldn’t snag in the second half. Sometimes you have to grind one out and we were able to. Chaz hit some huge free throws and I was happy for him in that moment. It’s a great experience for a freshman.”
Knecht is happy with the progress shown by his team during the first part of the season.
“We had some really good moments and some not so good. Sometimes we get sped up not realizing how effective we are when we get the court spaced out and move the basketball. But I’m very happy with where we are and am hopeful we will keep growing as a team.”
Knecht’s crew controlled the first half, leading by eight at intermission, but had to weather a Great Plains Lutheran comeback. The visitors outscored B-H 19-11 in the third quarter to knot the contest at 39-all with a quarter to play.
Will Richter and Jaxon Zuehlke led a balanced Braves’ attack with 11 points each, Vietor added 10, and Graham Fosness had nine.
GREAT PLAINS LUTHERAN: Jarret Bauer 1 0-0 3, Brody Scharlemann 3 0-0 6, Ryen Kjenstad 1 0-0 3, Hayden Karli 2 0-2 5, Micah Holien 4 0-0 11, Austin Rubendall 6 0-0 12, Landon Gerwan 0 2-4 2, Lucas Johnson 1 1-2 3, Will Krenz 2 0-0 4. Totals 20 3-8 49.
BRITTON-HECLA: Will Richter 5 0-1 11, Graham Fosness 3 2-2 9, Daniel Person 2 1-4 7, Jordyn McGregor 2 1-2 3, Jaxon Zuehlke 5 1-5 11, Chaz Vietor 2 5-6 10. Totals 18 10-20 51.
GPL (2-2) 5 20 39 49
BH (5-2) 15 28 39 51
3-point goals – Bauer, Kjenstad, Karli, Holien 3; Richter, Fosness, Person 2, Vietor. Fouled out – Scharlemann; Zuehlke. Total fouls – GPL 17, BH 13.
