Sports

BHS trumps Titans

By Matthew Semisch

01/27/2015

Momentum isn’t everything in sports, but it can take a team a long way.

Bottineau High’s boys’ basketball team proved that last Monday night when it hosted Towner-Granville-Upham (T-G-U). The Braves jumped out to a 12-0 start over the first 3:44 of the game and cruised to a 70-58 win over T-G-U.

Bottineau was all over the Titans almost immediately, and at both ends of the court. T-G-U had issues slowing the Braves’ offense down, and a full-court press from BHS helped the hosts out when they didn’t have the ball.

“I don’t know if I totally expected that kind of a start,” BHS head coach Nate Simpson said, “but we came out with some confidence and maybe throwing the press in there right off the bat focuses the kids a little bit more. 

“It seemed like we were there right off the bat and had some kids that made some nice plays and got some buckets down low and outside and got the crowd going and got ourselves going a little bit.”

The Braves, in only their second District 11 game of the season following a disappointing loss at Velva on Jan. 16. controlled Monday’s game throughout. Bottineau took a 39-16 lead into the break against T-G-U and never really let the Titans back into the game in the second half.

Perhaps the biggest key to the Braves’ success against T-G-U was their ability to use their height advantage over the Titans. Six-foot-one center Jacob Kvernum and 6-foot-1 Alex Bristol finished Monday’s game with 18 and six points, respectively.

“Those kids’ height certainly helped our cause tonight,” Simpson said. “Before the game, we talked about pounding (the ball) in to Alex and Jacob because we have that advantage, and the kids did a nice job of getting the ball in to them.”

Kvernum also led the Braves in rebounds against the Titans with 12. He also picked up one assist in the winning effort on Monday.
On top of his six points, Bristol ended the game with seven rebounds as well as three steals and an assist.

Braves forward Parker Engelhard was another key piece for his team. He finished Monday’s game with 16 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Guards Max Henry and Bryce Haerer also impressed against the Titans, scoring 11 points each.

On top of their strong inside game offensively, the Braves also were able to hit plenty of shots from the outside, too. 

BHS sank nine of its 16 three-point shot attempts. Engelhard nailed four of them, while Haerer - the smallest player on the court at 5-foot-4 - drilled three such shots from the perimeter.