BEMIDJI 鈥� A pair of juniors have consistently proven themselves as top-end scoring threats through three Bemidji High 歪歪漫画 boys basketball games this season: Jaxon Boschee and Austin Riewer.
In the Lumberjacks鈥� dominant 90-50 win over Detroit Lakes Friday evening, Jeron Huseby added his name to the list of juniors.
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鈥淛eron was huge tonight,鈥� head coach Steve Thompson said. 鈥淗e was doing it on defense, he was doing it in the rebound game, and that kind of energy, it spills over. He stayed aggressive, then to the rim, got a lot of good scoring opportunities. And it鈥檚 huge for us to have more contributors and Jeron is definitely a guy that can do that.鈥�
Huseby tallied 22 points on the night, good for second-most on the team. He consistently drove to the cup, finishing layups and pushing the offense quickly up the court in transition.
鈥淚鈥檝e been working on my 3-point shot a little bit, but most of my games, it鈥檚 mostly about driving,鈥� Huseby said. 鈥淚鈥檝e been working a lot and it鈥檚 just really cool for me to see that I can contribute to the team.鈥�
Boschee, Huseby and Riewer combined for 64 total points.
鈥淭hese guys have played a lot of basketball together,鈥� Thompson said. 鈥淭hey put in a lot of work in the offseason, and so to get to see it kind of come to life here on our home court is fun.鈥�
Boschee led the Jacks with 25 points, flexing his abilities as a perimeter shooter by splashing six 3-point shots. Riewer showed off some of his 3-ball ability as well, nailing three shots from beyond the arc. He also wasn鈥檛 afraid to drive to the rim, scoring once at the rim and talking on a collection of free throws.
鈥淲e鈥檝e been playing together our whole life,鈥� Huseby said. 鈥淚t's really cool to see us come together.鈥�
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As a team, the Lumberjacks excelled in the transition game, putting together strong defensive possessions and cashing in by moving the ball quickly up the court and finishing on layups.
鈥淲e really like to get our stops on defense, just push the ball up and get in transition,鈥� Huseby said. 鈥淚 think (tonight we did well) just our transition on offense, getting the ball off the court and finishing our layups and just doing our job on defense, too. 鈥� Lots of ball movement and then pushing the ball as fast as we can and just beating the defense up the court and finishing our layups.鈥�
That strong offensive play was especially clear in the first half.
Bemidji led Detroit Lakes 14-13 a few minutes into the first half, but a 3-pointer made by Boschee ignited a 20-3 run for the Jacks.
BHS continued to add to its 34-16 lead in the final seven minutes of the first frame, heading into the locker room with a 55-24 lead over the Lakers.
鈥淲e had really good ball movement in the first half and we were really good in rotation on defense,鈥� Thompson said. 鈥�(Those) were two focus areas going into the game, and it鈥檚 one thing to talk about it and it鈥檚 another thing to execute it. And the boys were outstanding in those areas tonight.鈥�
The Lumberjacks kept the game well out of reach through the second half and sent in a collection of subs in for experience with just over four minutes remaining in the game.
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Friday night illustrated some of the real strengths of this Bemidji team. Heading forward, the Lumberjacks are hoping to continue improving in those areas that sent them past Detroit Lakes in such commanding fashion.
鈥淲e just keep on doing what we saw tonight,鈥� Huesby said. 鈥淟ot of transition, big efforts on defense, talking on defense. 鈥� (We) really like to talk on defense.鈥�
Bemidji 90, Detroit Lakes 50
DL 24 26 鈥� 50
BHS 55 35 鈥� 90
Bemidji 鈥� Boschee 25, Huseby 22, Riewer 17, Pink 7, Sneide 6, McNallan 5, Briggs 2, Zellman 2, Gish 2, Tverstol 2.
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Detroit Lakes 鈥� Von Ruden 16, Moss 10, Strand 8, Bye 5, Brinkman 4, Ramsey 3, Johnson 2, Buboltz 2.
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