Sports

Braves drop two more as they head into district tournament

By Bottineau Courant Staff

02/11/2014

Despite a strong week offensively from senior Philip Neubauer the Bottineau Braves dropped their final two games of the season this past week.

The Braves fell to 79-40 to Drake-Anamoose last Monday, and then 89-69 to St. John last Saturday to finish at 3-16 overall and 0-7 in District 11 play.

The loss to the Raiders last Monday by 39 gives Bottineau the eighth seed for the upcoming district tournament, where they will face Rugby in the first round. The Panthers are undefeated and the top-ranked team in the district.

The two teams will square off in the opening game at 3 p.m. on Thursday in Bottineau.

Against Drake-Anamoose last Monday, the Braves fell behind early on, and could never catch up.

The Raiders led by seven after one quarter, and extended that lead to nine by halftime.

In the second half the Raiders picked up the pace and led by 24 after three quarters, and finished with a 21-point fourth quarter to earn the win. They will be the second seed in the district tournament.

Senior Alex Volochenko had 30 points for Drake-Anamoose, and fellow senior Tanner Volson added 23 in the victory.

Bottineau was led by senior Garrett Pollman, who had 11 points, and Neubauer who had eight points.

Last Saturday the Braves fell in a shoot out against St. John, who is the top team in District 7.

Bottineau trailed by just seven, 27-20 after one quarter, as both teams played well offensively. However, the Woodchucks offense was better throughout, and they led by 19 at halftime, and held on to the lead in the second half to win the game 89-69.

Neubauer had a season-best 19 points to lead the Braves in the losing effort, and Pollman added 18. Sophomore Parker Engelhard added 10.

For the Woodchucks it was Kiefer Langan who had 20 points to lead all scorers. Senior Sean Jay added 19 points, while Dalton Poitra had 18.

Bottineau opens against Rugby, and the winner will play the victor between four seed Dunseith and fifth-seeded Velva.

Rounding out the match ups for the opening round are second seed Drake-Anamoose against seventh seed Sawyer, and third seed Westhope-Newburg against sixth-seeded Towner-Granville-Upham.

The top four teams when it is all said and done will advance to the Region 6 Tournament that begins on Feb. 24 in Minot.