Sports
Braves falter against district rivals
Matthew Semisch
02/03/2015
Keen observers of North Dakota Class B boys’ high school basketball won’t have been surprised by how Bottineau High opened its two-game slate last week.
They might, however, be a little more taken aback by how the Braves ended it.
BHS lost both of its games that the Braves took part in last week. Second-ranked Rugby invaded Bottineau last Tuesday and stormed to an 80-27 victory before BHS fell at Drake-Anamoose (D-A) 54-53 on Friday in Drake.
PANTHERS MAUL BHS
Rugby dominated Tuesday’s game from the start. The Panthers opened the game with a 10-0 run, found themselves ahead 25-9 after the first eight minutes and went into the halftime break with a 44-18 lead.
“Rugby came out and punched us in the mouth and we never stood back up the rest of the night,” BHS head coach Nate Simpson said. “We just weren’t ready to play as a whole, and on every level tonight we were not ready to play.”
Any hopes for the Braves to recover were then dashed in a third quarter in which Rugby outscored BHS 22-2.
No BHS players ended the game in double-digits in scoring. Jacob Kvernum finished the game with a team-high seven points, while Parker Engelhard, Brody Moum and Max Henry were close behind with four points apiece.
BRAVES HUMBLED BY RAIDERS
Bottineau then visited Drake on Friday for a game that brought together two teams near the bottom of the District 11 standings. After the Braves fell 54-53 to the Raiders, both teams found themselves with mere 2-3 records in district play.
Sixteen points from Engelhard and another 10 from Ethan Jensen weren’t enough for Bottineau in the losing effort.
The Braves’ (5-8 overall) only remaining District 11 clash will take place tonight at 7:30 p.m. at home against Sawyer. Bottineau will then visit Langdon on Saturday and Dunseith next Monday.