CASS LAKE 鈥� The Red Lake High 歪歪漫画 boys basketball team opened its contest with Cass Lake-Bena with a quick trip to the free throw line thanks to a uniform technical foul, grabbing two points and a 2-0 lead.
It turned out to be the Warriors鈥� only lead of the night.
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The Panthers exploded onto a 9-0 run to force a timeout, with seven of those points coming courtesy of senior guard Kingsly Whitebird.
As the half progressed, Whitebird and the Cass Lake-Bena offense continued to hum. The Panthers pushed the floor with pace, racing down the court consistently for quick shots and layups.
Defensively, CLB forced a bevy of turnovers, punishing mistakes with its speed on the court.
鈥�(Our players) seem to stay within the offenses and recognize what defense the other team is playing,鈥� Cass Lake-Bena head coach John Wind said. 鈥� I think (they鈥檙e) starting to take ownership of the defensive part of it (too). If you don鈥檛 play defense, I鈥檓 going to take you out, so play defense.鈥�
When the halftime buzzer sounded, the Panthers found themselves with a 38-23 lead. Whitebird was responsible for 20 of those points.
鈥淗e鈥檚 one of the top players in the section,鈥� Wind said. 鈥淥ne of the top players even in class A.鈥�
Red Lake came out of the half hot, looking to draw itself back into the game. The Warriors embarked on a 11-3 run, finding scoring from across the lineup, to draw back within 10.
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However, CLB responded with a run of its own. The Panthers outscored Red Lake 16-2 in yet another momentum swing, reestablishing their commanding first-half lead.
Cass Lake-Bena was in firm control for the remaining 10 minutes of the game, cruising to a 85-51 home victory over the Warriors Monday evening.
Kingsbird ended the day with a team-high 36 points for the Panthers. CLB flexed as depth behind him, as senior guard Jayden Fairbanks, freshman forward Kenyon Goggleye and sophomore forward Douglas Dick tallied 10 points apiece.
鈥淚 wanted them to push the ball, just keep pushing the ball,鈥� Wind said. 鈥淚 think we can go deep enough when we can get teams tired. If they鈥檙e only going to play five, six, seven guys 鈥� whatever they play 鈥� and we can go deeper than 10, 11 guys, 12 guys, it just seems (that we don鈥檛) lose a beat.鈥�
Senior forward Tateyn Boswell made his presence felt on the glass for the Panthers, consistently contributing with rebounds throughout.
鈥淗e surprises me,鈥� Wind said. 鈥淚鈥檝e watched him the last four years and I think this year is probably one of the best years I鈥檝e seen him where his rebounding is just 鈥� it鈥檚 good.鈥�
Though Whitebird had himself a night, Cass Lake-Bena is looking to keep working on its depth as the year progresses toward the postseason.
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鈥淚 think as we continue onward from here, it鈥檚 just getting our substitutions in and people working together,鈥� Wind said 鈥淲e鈥檝e got to work on that still. And I鈥檓 telling the boys, when I sub, even from the first few subs and the second then the third, there shouldn鈥檛 really be a change in the rhythm of the game or what we鈥檙e doing.鈥�
Experienced seniors like Whitebird and Boswell will be essential pieces of that growth, acting as guides for the younger or less experienced members of the roster.
鈥淜ingsly and (Boswell), they've been here,鈥� Wind said. 鈥淭hey know what to expect. The other seniors and juniors that we have on the team, they lack the experience, but it鈥檚 not like they don鈥檛 want to play or they can鈥檛 do it, it's just as we go along and they got stronger and they get better, it's only going to trickle down to our sophomores and our freshman.鈥�
A postseason run is the hope for any prep basketball team. But for now, the Panthers are focused on taking things game by game, gathering experience and correcting mistakes by the time the playoffs come around.
鈥淕et as far as you can in the playoffs, win your conference, win the section, get to state 鈥� all that kind of stuff 鈥� that鈥檚 always on everybody's goals,鈥� Wind said. 鈥淔or us, (it鈥檚) game-to-game and see what we need to work on and improve so that once we get down to the end of the year, and then we get in the playoffs, we've seen everything and we鈥檝e experienced.鈥�
Red Lake鈥檚 leading scorer of the night was senior Tyrone Beaulieu Jr., who collected 11 points. Right behind him on the stat sheet was senior Andrew Roy, who flexed his scoring ability at the rim against the Panthers.
鈥�(Roy is) our senior leadership,鈥� Warriors head coach Nolan Desjarlait said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 our point guard, pretty much our floor leader, kind of like what he does. Our team follows him.鈥�
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Beaulieu Jr. and Roy are going to be key players on and off the court this season, especially if Red Lake wants to match 鈥� or exceed 鈥� last year鈥檚 playoff run that ended in the 8A championship.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e good to have from last year鈥檚 team when we made it to the section final last year,鈥� Desjarlait said. 鈥淭he group that we had coming in were all underclassmen, juniors now who are seniors, (they) are the leaders that want to lead this to where we need to be.鈥�
Cass Lake-Bena 85, Red Lake 51
RL 23 28 鈥� 51
CLB 38 47 鈥� 85
Red Lake 鈥� Beaulieu Jr. 11, Roy 10, Kingbird 9, Perkins 8, Oakgrove 5, Harris 4, Loud 2, Cloud 2.
Cass Lake-Bena 鈥� Whitebird 36, Fairbanks 10, Goggleye 10, Dick 10, Masten 8, Reyes 6, Wind 5, Boswell 2.
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