BEMIDJI 鈥� The Bemidji High 歪歪漫画 boys basketball team put on an offensive clinic on Saturday at the BHS Gymnasium.
The Lumberjacks were knocking down open shots, getting to the rim and finishing through and around defenders. Unfortunately for the Jacks, their opponents from Sauk Rapids-Rice did the same thing just a little bit better.
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Thus, the Storm emerged victorious with a 91-87 win in a game that showcased how much BHS has grown as a team since an 0-4 start to the year.
鈥淭hey had kind of the last run, but the game was back and forth all night long,鈥� said BHS head coach Steve Thompson. 鈥淚 told the boys after the game, we competed with a top-three team in our section and had an opportunity at the end to win a game. So that tells us how far we've come since the beginning of this to right now. I was really proud of them.鈥�
The Lumberjacks led 56-52 about a third of the way through the second half, but SRR鈥檚 7-0 run gave the Storm a lead they would not relinquish for the rest of the game. And though the Lumberjacks remained within 10 points the rest of the way, they could not close the gap to fewer than three points.
Bemidji (8-10) received scoring in bunches from Jaxon Boschee, Braden Luksik and Austin Riewer, and the Lumberjacks needed all of it to keep pace with the attack of the Storm (12-4). Both teams rained 3-pointers and found creative ways to score inside despite plenty of defensive traffic.
鈥淎ll of those guys had their moments where they made big buckets for us in the first half and in the second half,鈥� Thompson said. 鈥淭o have that kind of balance in scoring makes you tough, hard to guard. That was a presence tonight that I loved, and I'm hoping to see more of that moving forward.鈥�
BHS scored 47 points in the second half, a prolific total for any high school team. Yet despite trailing 40-38 at the half, Sauk Rapids-Rice made up for it with a stellar 53-point effort in the final frame.
鈥淚t was good offensive basketball today, so we can credit ourselves for that part,鈥� Thompson said. 鈥淚鈥檓 excited about them competing that hard from start to finish.鈥�
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With three seniors, the Lumberjacks are a young team that continues to grow game by game. Luksik is one of those fourth-years and was crucial inside with 22 points. But behind him are sophomores like Boschee and Riewer, as well as rapidly developing juniors like Owen Frazer and Kobe Brown.
With each contest, it appears Bemidji is putting more and more of the pieces together. An extended runway before the Section 8-4A Tournament could provide enough time to complete the puzzle before the Jacks match up with a top section opponent in the postseason.
鈥淚t鈥檚 just been tremendous growth from the start to this point, and the scoreboard today is indicative of that,鈥� Thompson said. 鈥淪o hopefully it spearheads us moving forward, knowing that we're right there and we can play with anyone. It's super exciting for the future, but the future for me is tomorrow.鈥�
Sauk Rapids-Rice 91, Bemidji 87
SRR 38 53 鈥� 91
BHS 40 47 鈥� 87
BEMIDJI 鈥� Boschee 28, Luksik 22, Riewer 18, Frazer 10, Brown 4, Gish 2, Oelrich 2, Huseby 1.
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SAUK RAPIDS-RICE 鈥� Hanson 31, Omoke 19, Swenson 19, Kunz 15, Bauer 3, Cook 2, Weisz 2.
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