BEMIDJI 鈥� The Bemidji High 歪歪漫画 boys basketball team continues to search for its first victory this season.
The Lumberjacks took on winless Moorhead on Tuesday at the BHS Gymnasium, and Bemidji had hopes to get into the win column after its second home game. But the Spuds proved to have the squad that earned its first triumph of the season, wearing down the young Jacks with their physicality and shooting prowess en route to a 80-65 win.
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鈥淭hey're athletic, and they're pretty dynamic in their guard play,鈥� said BHS head coach Steve Thompson. 鈥淭hey were able to get into the paint a number of times, too many times overall. But once again, we displayed some grit and some toughness, and we battled our way back in. (We) shot the ball well at times and were able to get some stops, so we have to feed off the positives that we are doing out there and then just continue to improve day by day.鈥�
Bemidji鈥檚 best chance to get back in the game occurred midway through the second half. After trailing by as many as 19 points, the Lumberjacks (0-4) cut the deficit to 65-56 with Braden Luksik鈥檚 layup. The BHS gym started to come alive, and it looked like the Jacks might have an opportunity for a comeback.
Instead, Moorhead responded with a 12-0 run, snuffing out Bemidji鈥檚 flicker of hope and effectively ending the game.
鈥淎t times, we're getting pushed around just a little bit, and we need to just be a little bit stronger with the ball in order to get into the paint and fight,鈥� Thompson said. 鈥淏ut we had some players that got into the paint in the second half, and it really opened up a lot for us. Once again, we're building. I'm seeing it piece by piece, little by little. So we have to keep staying positive and working.
BHS did a solid job of matching baskets with Moorhead (1-3) early on. The Lumberjacks only trailed by 11 points at halftime, and Moorhead extended its lead two seconds before the half on a banked-in 3-pointer that just beat the shot clock.
But Bemidji couldn鈥檛 remain attached for most of the second half, and the Spuds鈥� offense was ultimately too much.
鈥淎s with all the other aspects of the game, we're not going to see drastic improvements in certain areas,鈥� said Thompson of the Jacks鈥� defense. 鈥淏ut I think what we can see drastic improvement in is stopping the ball in defensive transition and keeping the ball out earlier in possessions. That's going to be the immediate fix that we need to have moving forward.鈥�
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Meanwhile, BHS will continue to dive into its silver linings playbook and search for the glimpses of successful basketball that translate into wins.
Jaxon Boschee led the Lumberjacks with 21 points, including six 3-pointers. He received supplementary scoring from Luksik (18) and Austin Riewer (11).
Dylan Zimmerman also knocked down six 3s to match Boschee and scored a game-high 24 points overall for Moorhead.
Moorhead 80, Bemidji 65
MHD 43 37 鈥� 80
BHS 32 33 鈥� 65
MOORHEAD 鈥� Zimmerman 24, Zarazua Jr. 19, Smith 16, Jones 8, Battle 6, Mack 3, Hoff 2, Thielges 2.
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BEMIDJI 鈥� Boschee 21, Luksik 18, Riewer 11, Brown 5, Huseby 5, Zellmann 4, Frazer 1.
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