BEMIDJI 鈥� For essentially any high school basketball team, the primary goal of any season is to make a deep run in the playoffs.
But besides that, there are personal goals. They often include the more obvious aims, such as personal growth and improvement. Then, there are the loftier ones: scoring milestones, scoring records, etc.
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Junior Rhys Sneide wants the Bemidji High 歪歪漫画 boys basketball team to make a 鈥済ood run鈥� in the section. That鈥檚 his primary personal and team goal.
However, Sneide also wants to make his own mark in another category.
鈥淭he one goal I kind of started realizing was (to) lead the school in assists,鈥� Sneide said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know if they do that, but I feel like it would be cool to get my name on that.鈥�
Sneide sees himself as a playmaker, facilitating and, in his words, 鈥渕aking plays for everybody else.鈥�
Tuesday night against Hermantown, Sneide showed off some of that playmaking ability.
The Bemidji High 歪歪漫画 boys basketball team crushed Hermantown 94-57 at the BHS Gymnasium, completing its regular-season sweep of the Hawks.
鈥淚 think we鈥檙e doing a really good job getting out in transition and finding the open man early in possessions,鈥� head coach Steve Thompson said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 putting a lot of pressure on defenses right from the start of the possession, so that鈥檚 been really effective for us.鈥�
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Put into the starting five, Sneide collected eight points in the victory, good for fourth-most on the team. However, some of Sneide鈥檚 top contributions for the Jacks were his effort on the defensive end, as well as that aforementioned ability to move the ball and create offense for his talented teammates.
鈥淩hys is a really dynamic player,鈥� Thompson said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 got great quickness on the offensive end and it translates well on the defensive end as well. He鈥檚 a great on-ball defender, extremely quick first step on offense. Those things make him hard to guard and a quality defender as well. 鈥� Rhys is a good distributor and he can hit the open shot as well.鈥�
Sneide isn鈥檛 always in the starting lineup for Bemidji, but personal improvements in the mental side of the game have provided some stability from the junior.
鈥淚鈥檝e been getting better at controlling my emotions, which has been a struggle for me at the start of the season,鈥� Sneide said. 鈥淚鈥檝e been able to control that better.鈥�
Naturally, the usual suspects had their fingerprints all over the game as well. Junior Jaxon Boschee did what he does best: let it rain from beyond the arc and drive aggressively to the rim. He finished with four triples and a team-high 28 points.
Juniors Jeron Huseby and Austin Riewer also put up impressive numbers scoring from across the court. Riewer finished with four 3-pointers, Huseby had three. Both were unafraid to make a trip to the cup, and both finished with 17 points.
鈥淲e all click,鈥� Sneide said. 鈥淚 know us juniors have been playing together for so long. When I get on the floor with those guys, I鈥檓 confident that we鈥檙e going to make plays, get the job done.鈥�
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BHS was stout from the jump Tuesday night. Huseby was the first to strike, slipping into the paint for a layup and nailing a 3-point shot shortly after for a quick 5-0 lead. Boschee tacked on another five with a slick strike to the rim and a deep 3.
Just like that, the Jacks were up 10-0.
鈥淔irst four minutes, we were really good on both ends, defensively and the execution on offense,鈥� Thompson said. 鈥淭hat was fun to see.鈥�
Though Hermantown managed to put a few scoring possessions together in response, it couldn't do much to slow the Lumberjacks on the other side of the court. Halfway through the first frame, Riewer nailed a 3-point shot to grab a 28-9 lead and force a timeout from the visitors. By halftime, Bemidji鈥檚 lead had swelled to 58-31.
The second half continued in much the same fashion: Hermantown was finding ways to score, but it was not nearly enough to keep up with the well-oiled machine that was the Lumberjacks鈥� offense. With under six minutes to go in the game, Bemidji sent its starters to the bench.
Bemidji鈥檚 win over the Hawks extended its winning streak to six games. The Jacks have scored 80-plus points in four of their last five.
鈥淚f guys are giving great effort and getting out and running the floor and we鈥檙e pitching, it opens up the floor for so many opportunities for so many different players,鈥� Thompson said. 鈥淵ou鈥檝e been able to see that in the last couple games. 鈥� We鈥檙e constantly measuring ourselves versus ourselves, and we鈥檙e seeing marked improvement in a lot of areas, which is leading to the run that we鈥檙e on right now.鈥�
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Bemidji 94, Hermantown 57
HHS 31 26 鈥� 57
BHS 58 36 鈥� 94
Bemidji 鈥� Boschee 28, Huseby 17, Riewer 17, Sneide 8, Brown 6, Tverstol 6, Zellmann 5, McNallan 4, Briggs 3.
Hermantown 鈥� Be. Sundland 14, Senst 11, Schott 10, Bl. Sundland 4, Burg 4, Petcoff 4, Lundeen 3, Janson 3, Johnson 2, Kleist 2.
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