BEMIDJI — With 11:26 to go, victory seemed firmly within the Lumberjacks’ grasp.
Junior Austin Riewer had just nailed a 2-point shot to extend the Bemidji High حلحلآ» boys basketball team’s lead over Esko to 18 points. The BHS offense was clicking in Friday night’s contest at the BHS Gymnasium, driven by three players in particular: Riewer, junior Jaxon Boschee and senior Kobe Brown.
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It was a vintage Riewer performance – tough boards, tough buckets in the paint and a few clean triples. Boschee was doing Boschee things, knocking down 3-pointers and putting his head down to head to the cup. Brown flexed his offensive ability running the point, showing patience in his drives into the paint and pushing the pace in transition.
“I love the way Kobe attacked in transition,†Riewer said. “(He) got downhill. He’s really patient, a really patient player downhill for his size, just being able to wait for the guys to fly past him trying to block his shot and going up and getting that bucket.â€
But Esko was far from finished. EHS scored seven straight to make it a 53-42 game and force a timeout. After the brief reprieve courtside, Esko embarked on an 8-3 run to draw within six points. It later resulted in a 67-60 win.
Brown nailed a 3-pointer to temporarily halt the visitor’s surge, and Bemidji called for a timeout to talk things over.
It only delayed Esko’s furious comeback.
EHS ripped off a nine-point run to knot the game up at 59-59 with less than five minutes remaining. Brown knocked down a free throw to briefly retake the lead, but it was the last points the Lumberjacks scored.
A 2-pointer with roughly three minutes remaining in the game handed the advantage to Esko, and with less than a minute left on the clock, the visitors nailed a 3-point shot to make it 64-60.
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The final 30 seconds of the game became a foul fest as BHS sought desperately to close the gap, but the buckets never came. Esko made a trio of shots at the free-throw line, confirming a seven-point win over the Jacks.
“We had a tough time kind of just closing it out with making shots,†head coach Steve Thompson said. “I thought we gave up too many paint touches defensively, allowed them to get downhill to the rim. Proud of the guys, that’s a great team, and we battled it all the way to the end.â€
“We could’ve limited turnovers,†Riewer said. “That was a big thing at halftime we talked about, we had 13 at the half and I’m not sure how many in the second, but just too many. We really struggled in their zone, trying to find a solution. We tried different things, just couldn’t figure it out unfortunately.â€
Sam Haugen and Jacion Owens were two of Esko’s strongest scoring options, nailing clutch buckets during the comeback effort and finishing with 21 and 17 points, respectively.
“Those two played well,†Thompson said. “They’re dynamic, they’ve been doing that all year for Esko. We kept them at bay for large stretches, but they made big shots when they needed to at the end.â€
Riewer and Boschee both led the way in scoring for the Jacks, scoring 21 points apiece. Riewer was also a menace on the glass, consistently coming out of scrums around the night with key rebounds.
“Austin for sure had a double-double tonight,†Thompson said. “He was huge for us in the first half when we extended the lead, and he continued into the second half with that rebounding, which was much needed.â€
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Brown was the only other Lumberjacks to finish with more than five points, earning 14.
“Kobe was tremendous on both sides of the floor,†Thompson said. “He did a great job keeping his composure, keeping guys together with his leadership. Really proud of him and we played a good basketball game, just came up a little short.â€
In the first half, Esko started strong, jumping out to a quick 8-2 lead. However, BHS quickly got into the swing of things and battled back and forth with EHS, ending the opening frame on a 9-5 run for a 35-28 lead heading into the locker room.
The Lumberjacks picked up where they left off to start the second half, slowly ballooning its lead to 18 points with less then 12 minutes to go before Esko kicked off its storming comeback.
“(Thompson) always says let it sting tonight, let it heal up tomorrow,†Riewer said. “Get back to it tomorrow, put in the work and just get better from there.â€
Bigger than basketball
Friday’s matchup featured a lot of pink.
In the stands and on the bench, players and audience members alike donned pink shirts for Stand up to Cancer Night. Before tipoff, Paxton Miller took to the court with his family to ring the bell, signifying personal victories in his fight against cancer.
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Miller is in seventh grade.
“Life and those moments, with Paxton and being able to honor him and his battle, those bigger-than-basketball moments are things that I think the boys will always remember,†Thompson said.
Esko 67, Bemidji 60
EHS 28 39 — 67
BHS 35 25 — 60
Bemidji — Boschee 21, Riewer 21, Brown 14, Huseby 4.
Esko — Haugen 21, Owens 17, Hartlieb 10, Synnott 9, Male 6, Peterson 4.
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