The Britton-Hecla boys basketball team rode a pair of strong defensive efforts to a pair of wins in the past week to boost its season mark to 3-1.
Coach Troy Knecht’s club downed Deuel 51-34 on Friday and followed that up with a 54-20 decision over Tri-State on Saturday. The Braves traveled to Milbank last night Tuesday.
This week the Braves have three doubleheaders with the girls’ squad. Thursday Redfield comes to town (JV boys, girls 5 p.m., varsity girls, varsity boys to follow), Friday the local cagers meet Great Plains Lutheran in Watertown (JV girls 4 p.m., JV boys, varsity girls, varsity boys to follow), and Tuesday B-H hosts Wilmot (JV boys, girls 5 p.m., varsity girls, varsity boys to follow).
Britton-Hecla 51
Deuel 34
Deuel chipped a 13-point deficit to 10 after three periods but the Braves went on a 10-5 run in the first six minutes of the final quarter to put the game away.
A strong defensive effort by the Braves right out of the gate put them in charge early as they limited Deuel, who came into the game with a 2-1 record, to just eight first half points. Senior Jaxon Zuehlke schooled the visitors in the paint with seven points, and point guard Will Richter started fast with a fielder and trey to boost the Braves to a 21-8 halftime advantage.
It was all Zuehlke for B-H in the third stanza. He powered his way inside for 11 straight points, including a three-point play, to give his club a 34-19 lead with 1:01 left in the quarter.
Deuel did make a game of it with a 10-4 run, cutting the margin to 36-29 with 6:26 remaining in the contest. But the Braves went on an 8-0 run during a four-minute stretch with Zuehlke scoring off a Richter assist and a put-back, Richter converting a steal, and Chaz Vietor hitting a pair of free tosses to put the game away.
Zuehlke ended up with a game-high 22 points, 10 rebounds, four steals, and a pair of blocked shots. Richter was credited with three assists and Vietor had three steals.
“We had some time off to tune up our defense and some offensive concepts, so it was nice to see the guys execute some of that in this game,” said Knecht. “Defense really needs to be our calling card and I thought this was a dominant performance on that end. We let up a little in the third quarter but recovered and finished strong.
“Jaxon had a career game for us and we needed it from him,” added Knecht. “They were leaving him alone in single coverage down low and he took advantage of it with some great footwork. Credit goes to the guards as well for recognizing it and getting him the ball. We also forced a bunch of turnovers, so we won that battle, and we got 13 more shots up. Those two factors usually matter in a game. We are far from where we need to be but I think we are on the right trajectory.”
Britton-Hecla 54
Tri-State 20
Britton-Hecla scored 26 straight points in the second and third periods to put the game away early against Tri-State.
“Tri-State is down on talent right now so I was worried about that Saturday “Trap” game where you come out flat and under-perform,” said Knecht. “The boys came out with intensity, however, and took care of business.
“Overall, it was another great defensive effort. We got some threes to go down on the offensive end which is great to see. A lot of guys contributed and everyone competed which made for a nice way to spend Saturday afternoon. We need to keep our foot on the gas at all times and see where that takes us.”
Ben Folkman and Will Richter both hit a trey and two-pointer in the early going to give the Braves a 14-5 lead after one quarter. Tri-State hit a three to lead off the second period but didn’t score again for over 10 minutes and by that time Knecht’s crew led 40-10 with 5:18 left in the third stanza. Richter led the charge with a pair of treys, Ben Folkman and Jace Rein connected from downtown, and Graham Fosness hit a conventional three-point play.
Richter topped the Braves’ scoring with 13 points and Ben Folkman added 10. Chaz Vietor grabbed eight rebounds and Lofton Heer and Nathan Folkman hauled down seven each. Mitchell Burger and Jaxon Zuehlke each dished out three assists. B-H shot 46% from the field while limiting Tri-State to just 20% shooting and outrebounded the visitors 39-17.
FOR FULL STATS, SEE THIS WEEK'S JOURNAL.
