Sports

Braves narrowly survive scare from Sioux

By Tyler Ohmann

01/17/2012

The gym at Westhope was packed with fans last Thursday night, but they weren’t all Sioux fans.

The nearby Bottineau Braves were in town for an inter-conference showdown and it wasn’t going to be an easy task for the Sioux as the Braves were 11-0 entering the contest.

Fans that were expecting a Bottineau win, got their wish, but not in the form they imagined. The Braves barely held on to beat the surging Sioux 57-55 after the Sioux made a final run in the fourth quarter.

Bottineau led by as much as seven in the final quarter, but the Sioux made a run thanks to senior Wyatt Kitzman and junior Kodie Hancock.

“It says that we are a competitor and we can fight with the best of them,” Kitzman said. “It gives us a big boost of confidence,” Kitzman added. “We lost a few games that we should have won, but we know how we can play now, and hopefully that carries on to our next games.”

The game turned out to be less about the Bottineau victory, but more about the now 4-9 Sioux’s near upset.

“They stuck to the game plan and played their tails off,” Sioux coach Bob Beaudrie said. “There were a couple breakdowns, but every time we play a special defense it is going to break down a couple times.”

“I have no dissappointments, it was by far the best game we played all year, and it was their closest game,” Beaudrie added. “I was pretty happy with our efforts.”

One of the big reasons the Sioux were able to stick with the Braves was Kitzman, who had a season-high 19 points on 9-of-16 shooting.

“They kind of put more pressure on our main two guys, so I had to step up and take some pressure off them, so they didn’t have to do it all,” Kitzman said. “They just seemed to be falling for me today.”

“It is definitely different for me, but I think I can do it, and if they need me to I’ll do it,” Kitzman added.

Another big reason for the Sioux/Braves standoff was the stifling defense the Sioux brought on Braves leading scorer Justin McCloud.

“We actually brought in somebody from the area to help us yesterday,” Beaudrie said about their defensive plans to stop McCloud. “We said ‘this is McCloud, and this is what we have to do.’”

“Everytime he got the ball we tried to double team him, but he still got 18 points,” Beaudrie added. “He is one of the top two players in the state, and it is tough to shut him down.”

Kitzman agreed that McCloud is no easy task to stop.

“It’s tough,” Kitzman said. “Justin McCloud is a great player, but you just have to try and stick with him.”

Hancock led all scorers with 26 points. The junior also grabbed 16 rebounds in the game. Sophomore Hunter Braaten also had nine points and 10 boards in the narrow loss.

Bottineau was led by senior Mark LaCroix who was all over the court during the game and dropped 22 points for the Braves. Devon Grenier, also a senior, had nine points.

Beaudrie knows this game can only be positive for his team, if they use it properly.

“We are 0-3 in the district, but I told the kids that it doesn’t matter what seed we are going into districts, if we keep playing like this we are going to be scary,” Beaudrie said. “It is definitely a big confidence boost knowing we had the chance, and probably should have won.”