Sports

Braves look to right the ship before districts

By Bottineau Courant Staff

01/29/2013

Losses in the past week to Towner-Granville-Upham (TGU) and Bishop Ryan extended the Bottineau Braves losing streak to eight games.

First on Thursday the Braves (4-11) fell to the Titans in Bottineau 43-35 in a hard-nosed defensive battle.

Neither team found the bottom of net too often in the first half as both teams combined for nine points in the first quarter.

The offense picked up slightly for both teams in the second quarter and TGU claimed a 23-14 advantage in the second half.

The two district rivals held that margin through three quarters, but the Braves made a run in the fourth quarter getting within striking distance on a couple of occasions.

However, the Titans remained vigilant and held on for an eight-point victory.

Eli Luna (13 points) and Luke Bacon (12) points paced the Titans to the victory, while Garrett Pollman led all scorers with 14 points.

Senior Trevor Wettlaufer hit two threes for his only scores of the night.

Things did not go much better for the Braves on Saturday night as they fell 56-35 against Bishop Ryan in Minot.

The Lions hopped out to an early lead, and had a 16-4 advantage by the end of the first quarter.

Bottineau made a run in the second and cut the lead to 10 points. The lead was 11 by the third quarter and a strong Lions run in the fourth put away the Braves.

Brody Bosch (14 points) and Mitch Medalen (13 points) both scored in double figures for Bishop Ryan in the win.

Pollman was the lone Brave in double figures with 10 points. Parker Engelhard added eight for the Braves who lost their eighth straight.

Bottineau looks to right the ship on Tuesday as they host a state-ranked Rugby team at 7:30 p.m., the second half of a girls/boys double header. They then travel to play at Velva at 7:30 p.m. on Friday evening in the second part of another girls/boys double header.