Sports
Sioux reverse fortune, down Braves
Tyler Ohmann
01/22/2013
In recent years the Bottineau Braves have been the rulers of Bottineau County boy’s basketball, having been one of the best teams in District 11 and Region 6. The story is different for Westhope-Newburg, who is used to being the underdog, and constantly having to prove themselves.
This year the teams are getting a little walk in their county counterparts shoes. However, that didn’t mean that it wasn’t one heck of a ball game last Thursday night when the Sioux (8-4) came to take on the Braves (4-9).
“We’re not used to other teams gunning after us, and now we understand that we have to bring our best game every night, because the team we’re playing is going to,” said Sioux head coach Bob Beaudrie.
The first half belonged to the Sioux, who sliced through the Bottineau zone, leading to a 36-24 lead at halftime.
“The first half I thought we did a good job with it,” Beaudrie said about the Braves zone. “Yesterday we worked on it, that was all we worked on. I thought we found the open pass and the open guy, but in the second half we kind of went away from that.”
“We started doing individual things, trying to drive when there wasn’t a driving lane, and we got away from that extra pass,” Beadurie added.
With scoring help from sophomore Christian St. Claire (17 points, five threes) and junior Garrett Pollman (game-high 25 points) the Braves made a strong comeback in the second half.
By the end of regulation the game was tied at 55.
“As far as mentality I have no worries about that going into overtime,” Beaudrie said. “We have a lot of experience on the floor, and it’s just another opportunity to put things away.”
That’s what the Sioux did on Thursday as junior Hunter Braaten took over in the extra period, scoring 11 of his 24 points in overtime to lead the Sioux to a 70-62 win.
“It gives us good confidence to know that we can finish in overtime,” said senior Jon Sivertson. “We have won two in overtime this year.”
“We just had to make sure we didn’t foul at the end, and keep the ball in people’s hands that are good,” Sivertson added.
Sivertson finished with five points and a tied for a team-best five assists.
He believed the win wasn’t the Sioux’s best performance.
“It was nice to get going tonight, but we still didn’t play to our full potential,” Sivertson said. “We’re a lot better team than this.”
“If we get going, because we’re not at our full potential yet, we’ll be a way better team at the end of the year,” Sivertson added.
Junior Ethan Miller played pretty well for the Sioux though, as he had a double-double with 18 points and 15 rebounds.
Also in double figures was senior Kodie Hancock, who had 11 points, despite sitting much of the game with foul trouble.
Sudden-death Sioux
Thursday’s win over Bottineau wasn’t the only overtime game the Sioux took part in during the week. Westhope-Newburg also played an overtime game with Towner-Granville-Upham last Tuesday in Westhope.
The Sioux trailed by three at the half, but made a comeback in the third quarter. However, the Titans tied the game to force overtime.
After a 9-6 advantage in the extra period the Titans earned a 54-51 win, but the Sioux had their chances.
“We didn’t quite get by TGU, but we had our chances, had our shots, had free throws at the end,” Beaudrie said. “We missed all of that.”
Hancock had a double-double with 16 points and 15 rebounds. Braaten had a team-best 18 points, while Miller had 11 points and 10 rebounds in the loss.
It did not take overtime for the Sioux to win on Saturday, though as they ended the game in regulation against Max in Newburg 61-39.
The game belonged to the Sioux after a strong run in the second quarter put Westhope-Newburg up 34-20 at halftime.
Braaten again was a force with a team-best 18 points. He also added seven boards, five assists and three steals. Hancock again had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. He also added four blocks and three steals.
Next up for Westhope are matches at Drake on Thursday and at Sawyer Jan. 29.
“We still have four more district games, Drake-Anamoose next week, which is a scary team, Dunseith is a very scary team, Sawyer is playing well, and Velva is playing better now,” Beaudrie said. “So, it doesn’t get any easier, but what’s starting to sink in is that the last three years these guys have been playing as the underdog, but, now not that the roles are reversed, but we are usually a favorite.”
Braves losing streak continues
The overtime loss against the Sioux on Thursday was the fifth straight for Bottineau, who was 3-1 to start the season, including a narrow loss to Region 6 powerhouse Des Lacs-Burlington.
The streak, which started on Dec. 29 in a loss in the fifth-place game at the Mandan Holiday Tournament, became four games on Tuesday with a 55-35 loss to Sawyer on Tuesday in Bottineau.
The Flashes had the hot hand early as they hopped out to a 21-10 lead after one period. The lead remained steady throughout the game, as Sawyer gave little ground to Bottineau, and the Braves fell by 20.
Pollman had 15 points to lead the Braves. The Flashes were paced by Isaac Tafelmeyer (19 points) and Colton Lund (18 points) in the win.
The misfortune continued for the Braves on Saturday as they went to Minot to take on the Berthold Bombers in a rematch from last years region title game.
Bottineau hung with the Bombers in the first quarter, trailing by only five going into the second, but the Bombers got on a hot streak and didn’t look back. By halftime their lead had grown to 15 and at the end of the third quarter it morphed to a 34-point lead. In the end the Bombers finished off the Braves effectively in a 83-34 win.
Austin Lee had 22 points for Berthold as 10 different players had baskets. Bottineau was led by Pollman’s 14.
Bottineau hopes to end their streak on Thursday as they host Towner-Granville-Upham in a District 11 clash. If not the Braves play on Saturday in Minot against the Bishop Ryan Lions.