Sports
Braves sink Lakers
Matthew Semisch
12/23/2014
To hear Nate Simpson say it, as Parker Engelhard goes, so goes Bottineau High’s boys’ basketball team.
Simpson, the Braves’ head coach, puts a lot of faith in his star junior every time Engelhard hits the court. The fact that Engelhard is a three-year starter for BHS lends itself to his being an on-court leader for his team.
He showed those credentials on Friday night in the Braves’ home opener against Des Lacs-Burlington (DL-B). In an eventual 62-54 BHS victory, Engelhard led the way with a game-high 23 points.
“Parker is going to have to score for us, and he knows that,” Simpson said. “Sometimes he’s just got to do a better job in terms of decision-making and what he does on the court, and tonight I thought he did a good job of that.”
“He certainly stepped up, and he knows that he’s going to have to make some big outside shots for us and he definitely did that tonight,” he continued. “I expect a lot of out of him and he expects a lot out of himself, and when he’s playing like he did tonight, 23 points, that’s no surprise to me that he put that together.”
He was also a key figure for the Braves when he wasn’t throwing the ball up toward the hoop. Engelhard ended Friday’s game with nine rebounds - seven of them following missed Lakers shots - as well as four assists and one steal.
With its win on Friday, BHS already got one-fourth of the way to its win total from a year ago. The Braves struggled through its 2013-14 season, finishing with a 4-18 record.
Friday’s game, however, suggested that the Braves won’t go quietly against anyone they face. DL-B came into the BHS gym favored to win, but the Lakers had a struggle on their hands all night.
The Braves started brightest in a somewhat low-scoring first quarter and led 11-8 after the first eight minutes. DL-B then stepped up its game in the second quarter, scoring 20 points in the frame to lock the game at 28-28 at halftime.
The Lakers looked worthy of leading going into the break, though, and they very nearly did. If not for a buzzer-beater from Engelhard just beyond the three-point line as time expired in the first half, DL-B would’ve been ahead.
Engelhard arguably was at his most forceful in that second quarter. It was there that he drained three three-pointers and ended the frame with 13 of his 23 points on the night.
“I kind of just went off the flow of the game and took what they gave me,” Engelhard said. “When I play loose and have fun like I was then, things start falling into place.
“Coach Simpson always gives me crap (about shooting the ball) and says that if I go to the hoop first, I’ll be a better shooter, but I kind of just did it backwards and took some outside shots, and I’m happy a lot of them went down.”
BHS took the momentum from that big buzzer-beater from Engelhard and took over after the interval. The Braves edged DL-B in the third quarter by a 16-14 count before dropping another 20 points in the fourth to put the game to bed.
Following a 65-50 season-opening loss at Rolla last Monday, the Braves’ victory on Friday moved them to 1-1 on the season.
Speaking after the win over the Lakers, Simpson said he felt his team had put in a much better performance in all aspects of Friday’s game.
“Good team win, and that’s all I can say when the kids all play their roles really, really well like they did tonight,” he said. “The kids that came off the bench played their roles exactly like I expected them to.
“We had to have some kids play extended minutes off the bench, but I can’t say enough how they did their jobs. Just a good team win, and if we keep playing like that, we’ll be a decent team.”
The Braves’ Jacob Kvernum also hit the 20-point plateau on Friday against the Lakers. On top of his 20 points, Kvernum connected on eight of his 12 field goal attempts and also finished with a team-high 11 rebounds.
There were low points to BHS’s game, too, however. The Braves only went 5-for-11 from the free-throw line and, apart from Kvernum, Bottineau had issues grabbing rebounds.
That said, the Braves also showed they knew when to slow things down and how to dictate the pace of a game.
“We have to be a good rebounding team, and I thought we had a chance to dominate the boards tonight and I don’t know if we did that,” Simpson said, “but tonight I think we were patient enough to get the win.
“If we can keep getting better from this game, we’re moving in the right direction.”
The BHS boys’ next action will take place at a tournament in Mandan this weekend.