by Cory Buchholz, coach
The Blue Dragon C team traveled to Luverne on January 13 and came away with a convincing 36-21 win.
“We struggled to get any sort of rhythm going in the first half. The shots were there; we just didn’t execute,” stated coach Buchholz. “We had to adjust at halftime to playing halves rather than quarters. But our second half defense really came alive and got us some easy transition layups and kick out shots that finally started to drop for us.”
Leading the way was Isaiah Gnadt with 13 points followed by Sam Schleuter with 6. Cadyn Ockenga, Matthew Gilbert, and Drew Pederson all had 4 points apiece while Dylan Jessen and Eli Reed each had 3 and 2, respectively.
Next the C team took on the Trojans from West Central on January 16. The Blue Dragons were defeated by a score of 28 – 40.
“We had 2 quarters that really hurt us, the first and the fourth. They jumped out on us right from the get go and had us down by 10 at the end of the first quarter,” said Buchholz. “I was really proud of the way we battled back to be down by only 3 points after 3 quarters but we just didn’t want it bad enough in the last quarter. As we preach and preach
over and over, we need to come out ready to play from the opening tip to the final whistle, and we just came out too flat.”
Pushing the pace was Isaiah Gnadt with 14 points (4 3-pointers), Cayden Ockenga and Eli Reed each with 4 points, while Sam Schleuter and Dylan Jessen each with 3 points.
Garretson traveled to Vermillion on January 24 to take on the Tanagers and fell by the score of 21 – 32.
“This was such a winnable game and I hope that the boys realize it as much as we as coaches do. We didn’t shoot the ball well at all, but we kept trying to hit the dagger shot, even while behind and that simply can’t happen. As they say, you live and die by the 3 and in this game we buried ourselves,” noted Coach Buchholz.
Sam Schleuter led the way with 6 points followed closely by Eli Reed with 5. Dylan Jessen and Isaiah Gnadt each knocked down a 3-pointer while Drew Pederson and Matthew Gilbert each had a 2-point bucket apiece.
Finally the C team had a rematch date with the Baltic Bulldogs on January 27 in the Dragon’s Lair, losing a close contest by the score of 40 – 45.
“Intensity out of the gates is huge and we once again came out flat, not ready to play. Somehow the boys need to realize that other teams will not just give us free buckets, time outs, etc.; they must all be earned. To earn them, we have to come out of the locker room ready to play when we step on the floor. Baltic came out ready to play and shot the ball with confidence (9 3-pointers as a team) and going forward we need to start again to be confident with our own abilities,” stated Coach Buchholz.
Leading the way again was Isaiah Gnadt with 16 points (all in 2nd half), Cadyn Ockenga with 9 and Sam Schleuter with 8 points. Drew Pederson and Eli Reed each had 4 and 3 points apiece.
