The Britton-Hecla boys basketball squad traveled a rugged road the final two weeks of the regular season, losing three of four to teams that have compiled a combined record of 49-9, but Coach Troy Knecht’s crew has 11 days to regroup and the Braves’ boss thinks his club can be a “tough out” in post season play.
The Braves wrapped up its regular season schedule at Groton on Friday, losing 67-27 to the seventh ranked Tigers, and fell to fourth rated Hamlin last week Tuesday 70-29. B-H will take a 12-8 mark into Region 1A play on Tuesday and will likely host a first round contest.
“As we get into the post-season I’m excited to have a week of preparation and rest,” said Knecht. “We are a 12 win team (easily could’ve been 14) and I think we are pretty good. Defensively, we can shut teams down for stretches and that gives us a chance against any opponent. I’m confident we will find a way to pick it up on offense and that will make us a tough out.”
Based on seed points through Monday games Groton Area (15-4) looks to be the number one seed and will earn a first round bye. The other spots could change based on final regular season games this week but currently Webster Area (11-8) is the two seed and would host seven seed Redfield (3-17), Britton-Hecla (12-8) is #3 and would host #6 Aberdeen Roncalli (6-13), and number four Sisseton (10-9) would host number five Milbank (10-9). The Braves lost at Roncalli 59-53 earlier this season.
All first round games will be played on Tuesday. Semifinal action to determine the SoDak 16 qualifiers is set for Friday, March 6. Groton Area will host the 4-5 winner, while the 2-7 and 3-6 victors will clash in the other semi. SoDak 16 qualifers will be re-seeded and play on Tuesday, March 10, for the eight Class A state tournament spots.
Groton Area 67
Britton-Hecla 27
Groton Area used a 24-point second quarter to take a 40-14 halftime lead and cruised to a win over Britton-Hecla.
Jaxon Zuehlke was the Braves top scorer with nine points and also grabbed nine rebounds, had a pair of steals, and two blocked shots. Lofton Heer was credited with three assists.
“I thought, once again, we challenged a really good team on the defensive end,” Knecht noted. “In the second quarter things got away from us and we failed to score the basketball, so it was lights out at that point. There’s definitely a trend for us against the better, more athletic teams. We have a hard time scoring. We compete, I won’t question that, but we have to become better at creating shots and then knocking them down.”
The Braves shot just 28% compared to 58% for the Tigers and were just 1-17 from three-point range.
Hamlin 70
Britton-Hecla 29
Hamlin went on a 31-0 run in the second quarter to break open the game with Britton-Hecla.
The Braves were down by just nine points after one period but fell back by 40 at halftime. Will Richter led B-H with 13 points. Chaz Vietor puled down five rebounds and Jaxon Zuehlke grabbed four. Ben Folkman had a pair of assists. The Braves hit just 29% of their field goal tries, while Hamlin shot at a 53% clip.
“There’s really no way to sugar coat this one,” said Knecht. “We got beat in every facet of the game. Hamlin shot the ball well and we didn’t. They took 20 more shots than we did, out-rebounded us, and simply out played us. Coming off of a game the night before didn’t help, but this is a realization that we have more work to do. We need guys willing to take open shots and play with confidence. Hamlin is better than us, no doubt, but not 40 points better. This was a disappointing effort.”
FOR FULL STATS, SEE THIS WEEK'S JOURNAL.
