Sports

BHS starts season with pair of wins over nearby opponents

By Tyler Ohmann

12/06/2011

The Bottineau Braves do not care if a team is from the east or west. The Braves indiscriminately won their opening two games this past week against east-traveling Rolla and west-situated Mohall-Lansford-Sherwood (MLS).

Besting the east

Tuesday marked the opener of the 2011-12 boys season for the Bottineau Braves, and they rang it in with a commanding 77-45 win over the Rolla Bulldogs in Bottineau.

The Braves struggled a bit in the first half and led by eight heading into the half.

“We just didn’t play defense and get rebounds. They scored way too many points,” said senior Justin McCloud. “In the second half we bared down and got some offensive rebounds and held them.”

McCloud’s efforts on the court led to the win. McCloud finished with 42 points, including the first 12 of Bottineau’s points to begin the game, and several key baskets throughout.

“Justin had a good night, he got to the rim at will tonight, and that is what he likes to do,” said Braves Head Coach Nate Simpson. “That is his first option, but the second option is that he is deadly from three point range, and he was hitting in the first half.”

“I hope we have a lot more nights like that from him this year,” Simpson added.

McCloud embraces the role of leader, and as the teams leading scorer from last season, knows he needs to help when his team is in need.

“It was a tough game, so I figured I would kind of take control because we were down and wanted to get up,” McCloud said. “I just wanted to do whatever I could to help the team.”

“I have been playing varsity for awhile, so I kind of know how to get the team back up top,” McCloud added.

Devon Grenier was the only other Brave in double figures with 10 points.

“The first games you never know what you are going to get,” Simpson said. “You are going to get a little bit of ugly and a little bit of nice things, and we saw a lot more ugly tonight than we wanted to.”

Overall, the Braves were pretty happy to get a win at one of their only six home games on the season.

“We came out a little sluggish, but it is good to get that first win,” McCloud said.

March to Mohall

Fresh off the first win the Braves trekked 40 miles west to Mohall to a test against an MLS team that lost to the Braves twice last season, including once in the Region 6 tournament.

The Braves again stuck it to the Mavericks with a convincing 69-41 win in hostile territory.
It was again a little slow to begin Thursday night as well for the Braves, as they were tied after the first quarter and led by six entering half time.

Again though the Braves broke out in the second half out scoring MLS 44-22 in a firework-filled scoring display.

Senior Mark LaCroix took over the game for the Braves as he scored a season-high 39 points in the win.
McCloud also contributed with 16 points of his own as the Braves goosed the Mavericks.

The 2-0 Braves will play at Des Lacs-Burlington on Friday and will host Langdon on Monday evening.