The Britton-Hecla boys basketball team had a tough end to its regular season, dropping its final three games, and will open Region 1A play on Tuesday.
The Braves, now 9-11, dropped decisions to Groton Area 63-31, Waverly-South Shore 48-34, and Hamlin 61-16.
Based on power points through Monday games first round regional matchups would have the fourth-seeded Braves hosting #5 Sisseton (7-12), #2 Roncalli (9-11) would meet #7 Redfield (2-18), and #3 Milbank (9-10) would take on #6 Webster Area (5-14). Groton Area (14-5) is the #1 seed and has a first-round bye. Semifinal games are set for Friday, March 7.
“Overall we’ve struggled to score lately,” said B-H coach Troy Knecht. “Our defense has been good enough in almost every contest we’ve played this year, and I feel like we are a few made buckets away from gaining confidence and turning the corner. With the postseason up next it would be the right time to start feeling good on the offensive end.”
Groton Area 63
Britton-Hecla 31
Groton Area came out on fire, hitting its first four three-point tries to lead 16-2 midway through the opening quarter, and the Braves could never really recover.
The Tigers led 23-12 at the first quarter break, led 33-19 at halftime, and then outscored B-H 30-12 in the second half. Daniel Person led the Braves with 22 points and Jaxon Zuehlke had four rebounds.
“I thought we played as hard and competed as well as we have all year,” said Knecht. “We held them to 63 points which is good, and really enough for us to be in the game on a better offensive night. Their pressure makes it hard to get any flow on offense so we were limited in our shot attempts, and we had 21 turnovers which is too many. We did turn them over 18 times which is encouraging, and I think we learned enough about their approach that we could come up with a plan to challenge them in the postseason if the opportunity presents itself.”
GROTON AREA: Ryder Johnson 8 0-0 20, Keegen Tracy 5 1-2 16, Gage Sippel 2 0-2 4, Becker Bosma 4 0-0 10, Karson Zak 2 0-0 4, Easton Weber 2 0-0 4, Turner Thompson 2 0-0 5. Totals 25-44 1-4 63.
BRITTON-HECLA: Graham Fosness 1 2-2 4, Chaz Vietor 0 1-2 1, Jordyn McGregor 1 0-0 2, Jaxon Zuehlke 1 0-0 2, Daniel Person 7 7-8 22. Totals 10 10-12 31.
GA (14-5) 23 33 54 63
BH (9-11) 12 19 27 31
3-point goals – Johnson 4, Tracy 5, Bosma 2, Thompson; Person. Total fouls – GA9, BH 7.
Waverly-South Shore 48
Britton-Hecla 34
Britton-Hecla put together a strong first half, leading 24-18 at intermission, but managed just 10 second half points as Waverly-South Shore outscored the Braves 20-4 in the third period and grabbed the win.
Jordyn McGregor and Daniel Person both had four points, and Will Richter and Chaz Vietor swished treys to give the Braves a 14-10 lead at the first quarter break. Five B-H palyers scored in the second period to boost that lead to 24-18 at intermission.
But then the roof fell in for the Braves. B-H still led 26-24 on a Richter bucket midway through the third stanza, but W-SS went on a 21-2 run over the next six minutes to decide the issue.
“We had a decent start to the game, especially defensively,” noted Knecht. “Our zone was very effective, allowing only 18 points. We scored it okay and had a comfortable lead at half time. In the second half we kind of fell apart offensively. We didn’t attack their zone well and missed some buckets to stay in it. Again, our defense was good enough as most of their points came off of turnovers or transition. It was disappointing to lose one that we should win. Consistency is tough until you’ve got full confidence in what you’re doing. It’s my job to encourage and help the guys figure it out. We will keep at it and all get better, and that includes me.”
Person had 10 points and three assists to lead the Braves. Jaxon Zuehlke had six rebounds and Graham Fosness grabbed five.
WAVERLY-SOUTH SHORE: Kyle Kneeland 0 2-2 2, Sam Appelhof 10 3-6 25, Colton Kranz 3 0-0 6, Brady Eschen 3 3-4 9, Zach Ries 3 0-0 6. Totals 19-55 8-12 48.
BRITTON-HECLA: Will Richter 2 0-0 5, Ben Folkman 1 0-0 3, Mitchell Burger 1 0-0 2, Graham Fosness 1 1-2 3, Daniel Person 4 2-5 10, Chaz Vietor 1 1-2 4, Jordyn McGregor 3 0-0 6, Jaxon Zuehlke 0 1-2 1. Totals 13-43 5-11 34.
WSS (10-6) 10 18 38 48
BH (9-8) 14 24 28 34
3-point goals – Appelhof 2; Richter, Folkman, Vietor. Total fouls – WSS 11, BH 7.
Hamlin 61
Britton-Hecla 16
It was one of those nights when not much went right for the Braves, who scored just eight points in each half as Hamlin boosted its season mark to 17-2.
The Chargers jumped out to a 7-0 lead but Chaz Vietor hit a couple of free tosses and Graham Fosness sunk a field goal to make it 7-4 with just over three minutes gone in the opening period. But then the roof fell in. Hamlin proceeded to outscore B-H 36-4, including seven treys and a couple of conventional three-point plays, and led 53-8 with 5:33 remaining in the third period.
“Hamlin was just too much for us,” said Knecht. “They’ve got superior athletes and basketball players. I think we should be able to compete with teams like that, at least for a quarter or a half, but we just didn’t do that. Playing a team like Hamlin is a good reminder that it takes a lot of hours in the gym to get to the top of the pinnacle. Hopefully the boys are motivated this offseason to keep making gains.”
Jaxon Zuehlke and Vietor both had four points for the Braves, who shot just 22% from the field. Zuehlke grabbed six boards and Vietor had five.
HAMLIN: Easton Neuendorf 5 1-1 13, Jackson Wadsworth 3 0-0 9, Zac Van Meeteren 5 1-1 11, Evan Stormo 4 1-1 10, Dawson Noem 0 1-2 1, Boden Stevenson 3 0-0 6, Turner Stevenson 1 0-0 3, Aiden Abraham 2 0-0 5, Watson Grantham 1 0-0 3. Totals 24 4-5 61.
BRITTON-HECLA: Will Richter 1 0-0 2, Graham Fosness 1 0-0 2, Chaz Vietor 1 2-2 4, Jaxon Zuehlke 2 0-0 4, Jack Teveldal 0 2-2 2, Nathan Folkman 1 0-0 2. Totals 6 4-4 16.
Hamlin (17-2) 26 47 55 61
BH (9-9) 6 8 14 16
3-point goals – Neuendorf 2, Wadsworth 3, Stormo, T. Stevenson, Abraham, Grantham. Total fouls – Hamlin 7, BH 11.
