The Blue Dragons Come Up Just Short
by Coach Tad Heitkamp and staff reporting
The Garretson Blue Dragons Boys Basketball team opened their 2022-2023 campaign against conference rival Chester Flyers on December 10th, 2022.
The Blue Dragons struggled to get things going the opening half as they could only knock down 12 points in the first 16 minutes of the game.
The upside of that situation, the Blue Dragons held the Flyers to 15 points of their own.
“We talked at half on how well they were playing defense," said Head Coach Tad Heitkamp. "The kids were doing a decent job communicating with each other and we didn’t give them very many second chance scoring opportunities.
"We expressed that the offense would come, but that starts with confidence when shooting the ball. We were getting very good looks, but the ball just wouldn’t drop through the net.”
The second half was back and forth as neither team could extend a lead past 5 points, which brought the score to 36-38 in favor of the Flyers with 7.5 seconds left on the clock.
The Blue Dragons had to go the full length of court and got a great look, but it rimmed out, giving the Chester Flyers the win.
“We had a great look at the end, but it just wasn’t meant to be this go around,” explained Heitkamp. “I made the comment to the kids after the game…all we can hope for is a chance at the end to win the game, which we did…we will get them the next time if we have a chance!!”
Senior guard Sam Schleuter led the way in the scoring column with 11 points (4 steals/4 rebounds), while Blaine Trower collected 10 points (5 rebounds). Ian Buettner had a solid game with 8 points and 12 rebounds as newcomer Ramsey Schweitzer added 7 points/7 rebounds of his own.
This year's team consists of eight players, led by seniors Dylan Jessen, Matt Gilbert, and Sam Schleuter. Juniors Blaine Trower, Ramsey Schweitzer, and Sage Solheim are joined by sophomore Ian Buettner and freshman Brecken Weir. Head Coach Heitkamp is joined by assistant coaches Cory Buchholz and Jacob Heumiller to guide the team.
This first game of the season was a real nail biter for fans, and victory or loss truly was on a razor’s edge. It really did come down to the last few seconds and our guys never quit. Chester may have won, but the Dragons clawed at them for every inch they gained on that court. With that much energy and aggressive ball play, it bodes very well for the rest of the season.
“I was very proud of our guys,” said Heitkamp. “They never quit battling!!”
