BY HERMAN LENSING
Staff Writer
The Holdingford Huskers (15-11/7-7 Central Minnesota Conference) Boys' Basketball Team has to forget about the game Friday, March 3, when they start playoffs Thursday, March 8.
It won't be easy, because the 52-50 win over Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa (BBE), is the kind of game people want to remember. That win came after the Huskers had defeated Paynesville 53-39 Tuesday, Feb. 27 at Paynesville. Holdingford, the eighth seed, begins Section 6AA playoffs at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 8 at seventh-seeded Pine City. The winner faces either number one-seeded Annandale or 16th-seeded Rush City Saturday, March 10 at Collegeville at 1 p.m. The winner of the March 10 game advances to the semi-finals Wednesday, March 14 at 5:30 p.m.
Holdingford 52, BBE 50
The back-and-forth game with BBE saw the Huskers lose a 7-0 lead but then rally in the final minute to take a win. Junior Jacob Wolter (11 points) hit a three-point field goal with about five seconds left to give the winning margin.
"It was a fun game with two teams going at it and working hard. Fortunately we made one more play than them," said head coach Nathan Miller.
The Huskers had faced and fallen 62-55 to BBE earlier this year. They learned some lessons in that game.
"We learned their strengths," said senior Cody Skwira who had nine points in the game. "We took away their strong points."
The Huskers played solid defense for the whole game. Early in the game, Holdingford simply did give up a shot. Three straight steals of BBE possessions became three field goals and Holdingford had a 7-0 lead. They expanded it to 11-4 before BBE came back.
"We were in a similar personnel and similar in styles. Both work hard defensively," said Miller.
BBE's defense slowed but never really stopped the Huskers. Holdingford had too many people to contain. Seven Huskers scored in the first half, which ended in a 25-25 tie. Senior Isaiah Folsom scored seven of his 10 points in the first half.
"It was a battle the entire way," said Skwira. "It was a good home win."
Neither team ever led by more than five points in the second half. Timely three-pointers by Wolter, Skwira and Folsom, and fast breaks by senior Evan DeMorett, kept the Huskers in the game. With 12 seconds left the Huskers trailed 50-49 and BBE was shooting a free throw. The shot rimmed off and the Huskers had the rebound. With time running out Holdingford worked the ball to DeMorett, who passed to Wolter.
"We wanted to give it to Evan (DeMorett), but they did a good job denying him (a shot)," said Miller. "Evan made the right decision by drawing somebody (having the defense come to him) and throwing to Jacob and Jacob was the guy who was open and had the shot."
"It (the final shot) came down to Wolter and he nailed it," said Skwira.
Wolter did not know he would be the one shooting with the clock winding down.
"I knew we had just a little time left and we had to get a shot off," Wolter said. "I was open and decided to take it."
The shot was swished through setting off an explosion of cheers, hugs and high-fives among the Husker fans. BBE called time out with four seconds left, but never got a decent shot before time ran out.
"It was just a good win for our guys tonight," said Wolter.
Holdingford 53, Paynesville 39
Holdingford's defenses stepped up in the second half in the Paynesville win.
The Huskers took a 28-27 lead into the half-time locker room. In the second half, it continued to play a consistent offense and scored an additional 25 points. The defense held Paynesville to 12 points.
Leading the scoring for Holdingford was Folsom, 12 points, three of them came on a three-point basket. Also hitting a three-pointer for the Huskers was Wolter, who had three points in the game.
Holdingford 53, Paynesville 39
Paynesville 27 12-39
Holdingford 28 25-53
Holdingford: Isaiah Folsom-12, Cody Skwira-9, Austin Lange-8, Jared Thell-7, Nick Hellmann-6, Evan DeMorett-4, Tyson Patrick-4, Jacob Wolter-3, Holdingford 19 13-25 53. Paynesville 15 6-8 39.
3PG:Wolter, Folsom Paynesville-3.
Also played: Jordan Schmitz.
Holdingford 52, BBE 50
BBE 25 25-50
Holdingford 25 27-52
Holdingford: Wolter-11, Folsom-10, Patrick-7, Hellmann-7, Skwira-6, Thell-4, DeMorett-3, Lange-2, Schmitz-2, Holdingford 18 8-12 52, BBE 19 7-10 50.
3PG: Wolter-3, Skwira-2, Folsom-2, BEE-5.