by Cory Buchholz, Coach
The Blue Dragon boys’ JV basketball team traveled to Elkton on Saturday, February 8 to compete in a Border Bash tournament and came away with a second-place finish. The competition featured four South Dakota schools (Elkton-Lake Benton, Garretson, Deubrook, and Sioux Valley) and four Minnesota schools (Russell-Tyler-Ruthton, Windom, Tracy-Milroy-Balaton, and Canby). This was such a good tournament for the boys to play some different competition that we don’t normally see throughout the year.
The first game of the day Garretson went up against a good shooting team from Windom, MN. The Eagles started out shooting and didn’t quit. While they were cold in the beginning, we were even colder from the field only taking a two-point lead, in the first minutes of play. “Once they started hitting their shots, it didn’t take long to find ourselves in a 14-point deficit. This is what happens when we allow a team to keep shooting the ball, their confidence keeps growing,” stated Coach Buchholz.
While Garretson struggled to find the net on offense, they were able to gain confidence in improving their defensive play. “If we would realize that playing both ends of the court leads to good things, we wouldn’t be in such a big hole in the first half. Granted, Windom made 12 three-point buckets for 36 of their 46 points, but we need to recognize this while it is happening during the game,” said Coach Buchholz. “We picked up our defensive effort, made some switches which led to some great transition buckets.”
Garretson was able to hold off another late surge by Windom, as they lived and died by the three-point line. The Blue Dragons grounded the Eagles, 50-46. Leading the attack was Cooper Long with 16 points and Sam Schleuter with 10 points. Brady DeBates had a great game in the paint with 7 points. Josef Zahn and Cadyn Ockenga each chipped in 5 points while Evan Bly and Triston Rekstad each contributed 4 and 3 points.
The second game pitted Garretson up against a red-hot team from Russell-Tyler-Ruthton (R-T-R), MN. The Knights were a strong team, but Garretson was riding high after finding their game in the opening match of the day, and the Blue Dragons came away with a 60-48 win.
During a conversation with R-T-R's coach before the game, he stated that they were on a 7-game winning streak and that they were really starting to click as a team. We, as coaches, kept that in our back pockets for added fuel for later but we didn’t ever have to use it as the boys had picked up their intensity in the second half.
“This was a well-coached team that ran the floor really well. We came out and made some good defensive plays that allowed us to knock down some shots on the offensive side of the court. I was really proud of the way the boys ‘gelled’ in the second half while putting the game out of reach early in the fourth quarter,” stated Coach Buchholz.
Having his best offensive output of the year was Long pouring in 28 points (6 three-pointers). After settling down after a sluggish start, Zahn chipped in with 15 points and Rekstad added 5 of his own. Helping the winning team’s cause each with 4 points were Schleuter, Bly, and Ockenga.
This second win put Garretson in the championship game against the host team, Elkton-Lake Benton. While the game showcased offense highlights on both ends, the length of the day and miles on the legs were catching up with both teams, but the Blue Dragons fell to the losing end by a score of 34-43.
“I could tell that the boys were nervous and anxious before the game. We came out firing and jumping out to a lead early, but our tiredness had gotten the better of us (10th game in 6 days) as we had some mental lapses and missed free throws (2 for 6),” said Coach Buchholz. “I was extremely proud with the way we played all day. All the positive things we did throughout the day extremely outweighed the minimal negative plays. The future is bright for Garretson basketball!!!”
Leading the charge was Long with 10 points and Zahn with 8. Schleuter and Rekstad matched each other’s point total with 5 while Isaiah Gnadt made a 3-pointer. Ockenga chipped in 2 points and Evan Bly made a lonely free throw to round out the scoring.
