BV Wins 3, Gets to Eat at McDonalds

A Game: BV 41, Mitchell 34

(Mitchell, SD)—It was the tale of two halves for the Lynx A team in Mitchell Saturday morning as they faced the Kernels. The old adage “the difference was like night and day” has never been truer. For the Lynx, the first half consisted of sloppy play, missed shots, poor defense, and foulitis. “Ugly,” was the only quote Coach Bisbee was able to get out at halftime as steam came out of his ears, nose, and mouth. The Kernels came out swinging to start the game, building a comfortable 9-0 lead before the Lynx knew what had hit them. Missed shot after missed shot and poor defense lead to a quick deficit and a quick timeout from Coach Bisbee. The Lynx defense was about as effective as a strainer holding water. Offensively in the first half, the Lynx had a difficult time simply hanging on to the ball. That could have been the result of pressure defense from the Kernels or from the large amounts popcorn with extra butter they consumed before the game. Another aspect that plagued the Lynx in the first half was the foul situation. It appeared that the Lynx thought they were real Lynx and began clawing at the defenders, picking up foul after foul. Multiple players picked up their fourth foul in the first half, which was in part due to lack of awareness from the managerial staff keeping book. Coach Klumper stated at halftime, “yeah, I had a talk with the managers. We got things straightened out.” As the Lynx headed into halftime, it was clear what needed to change for the second half—confidence and aggression. “We had a good talk,” stated Coach Bisbee, “I told them that we need to be more aggressive offensively and defensively. I also explained to them that if we don’t win, we will not go to McDonald’s after the game.” That seemed to light a fire under the Men of Brandon as they came out of the locker room for the third quarter like a team on a mission-a mission to qualify for McDonald’s. The second half was a display of confidence, aggression, and effort. The Lynx were swarming on defense and confident taking the ball to the basket on offense. It was as if a switch was flipped-turning on a machine focused on not only coming back, but winning. “The boys did a great job playing aggressive and physical in the second half. When they play like that, it’s a lot of fun to watch.” The offense started to click, shots started to go down and the defense tightened. Adam “The Baller” Bauer hit a key shot down the stretch as the Lynx tried to get back into it. After Bauer shot the ball, he held his arm in the air like he was posing, but in reality, Bauer had a bad cramp in his shoulder that prevented him from putting his arm down. Everybody contributed in the comeback effort, which made the win even sweeter. Leading the scoring for the A team was Chase Marso with 13 points. Bauer finished with 8. Jacob Bruget showed strength and fortitude in the paint going against Mitchell’s version of Goliath. Despite the Lynx outstanding second half, the goal is to put two halves together with that effort. Marso points out “two halves equal a whole game.” The Lynx, 2-1 on the year, will travel to Yankton on Tuesday, January 27 to face the Bucks in an ESD showdown for first place in eighth grade.



A- Game: BV 50, Mitchell 31

(Mitchell, SD)--The undefeated B team, nicknamed the GOATS (Greatest Of All Time) by Coach Klumper, headed into their game on Saturday against Mitchell with confidence at an all-time high. Having faced these same Mitchell Kernels one week ago, the Lynx knew what to expect offensively and defensively. "We knew we had to shut down #12 for them and we also knew our offense would not be stopped if we executed," remarked Coach Klumper. The Lynx were totally in control in the first half, playing with a ten to twelve point lead consistently. Strong ball screens and slashes to the basket continued to prove effective as the Lynx scored at will. Defensively, BV was sparked by the Mulder Twins' suffocating pressure. Throughout the first half and into the second half, it appeared as if there were five Mulder's on the court, not just two. "Swarming, absolutely swarming. We had defenders everywhere. Mitchell could not do one thing easily against us today. It was great," said Klumper. BV saw the addition to a newcomer on this occasion, Jared Bakker made his GOATS debut with a bang. His precision passing and strong rebounding was too much for the Kernels to take. As the first half came to a close, the Lynx were comfortably in the lead, but as Klumper pointed out, "We can't be satisfied with one good half of basketball. We need to stay aggressive and hungry, even with a big lead. We need to keep the foot on the accelerator the whole game. If we are up by 10, I want us to be up by 20, if we are up by 20, I want us to be up by 100." After an enlightening halftime discssion about McDonald's which included the most efficient way to order, favorite items, and a diagram of the entrances, the Lynx started the second half right where they left off, with speed, aggression and teamwork. On numerous occasions, BV would get a steal and chuck it down the court to a sprinting Adam Guthmiller or Garret Martinmaas. Mitchell could not contain either of those two, whose speed was unmatched by anything the Kernels put on the floor. Throughout the entire second half, the Lynx continued to add to their lead while holding Mitchell to offensive hardship. "Our defensive pressure was phenomenal. For a while during the second half, it looked like all of our guys had 4 arms because of the way we were getting steals," stated Klumper. Thomas Gardner put up a very solid effort for the Lynx as he played both in the post and on the perimeter as a guard. Having Gardner be able to play a wing/guard, it will add to the already potent arsenal of the B team. Phillip Volk, Trey Ethreim, and Cole Vanderbeek had 13 steals apiece to lead the defensive charge. Zach Vaneide continued to showcase his superb basketball skills with textbook screens and box outs. "All of the guys played really well today," said Klumper, "They are such a great group of kids. They play so hard all the time, I just love coaching them." Leading BV in scoring was Garrett Martinmaas with 14 and Philip Volk with 9.


C Game: BV 39, Mitchell 16

(Mitchell, SD)-- The Lynx came out and scored early and often against the overwhelmed Mitchell Kernels. With a high octane fast break scheme, the Lynx simply ran away with this game. BV put the game away basically midway through the first quarter, but that did not mean excitement was not to be had by the BV fans. At the end of the first quarter, with the clock winding down, Nick Wilde was about a half of a second late on his attempt at a buzzer beater dunk. Also, as the clock wound down in the second quarter, Alex Rogen launched a full court shot which banked in, but the refs waved it off, saying the clock had already expired. Defensively, steal after steal allowed the Lynx to open this game up and turn it into a track meet. The defense was not the lone shining aspect for the C team, as their offense ran as smooth as a brand new BMW. Coach Reese was pleased with the effort, "We had a total team effort today. Up and down the roster, we had kids giving maximum effort and it paid off." Levi Vanderweide had a very solid game for the Lynx, contributing 13 points in the blow-out. Kain Koepp used his size and athletic ability to control the paint, scoring eight points and pulling down 21 rebounds. The C Team will put their perfect record on the line as they travel to Yankton on Tuesday night face the also undefeated Bucks.