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BEA extends winning streak to three

By Staff | Feb 9, 2014

The Buccaneers used a late rally to finish off the Eagles and extend their winning streak to three games.

BEA dropped Windom 53-42 last Thursday night in Blue Earth.

Senior Luke Monson registered his 10th straight double-double with 21 points and 13 rebounds to pace the Buccaneers.

BEA had great balance and produced open shots for each other, according to coach Seth Anderson.

“We played well enough defensively to come out on top,” Anderson says. “Kellen Jacobs and Quinn Huisman played a large role in making our offense and defense run.”

The maroon and gold once again found themselves down early in the contest as the Eagles jumped out to an 11-4 lead.

Monson helped narrow Windom’s lead with a couple of quick baskets, cutting the lead to 11-8.

Jacobs, starting in the high post, produced six early points for the Bucs.

BEA took its first lead after Huisman guided a no look bounce pass to a cutting Jacobs for two, 13-12.

The Eagles went on a dry spell of not making a field goal for over seven minutes.

However, BEA couldn’t take advantage as much as they would have liked.

Windom’s first field goal since the 11:10 mark came with 3:45 remaining in the first half. Luckily for the Eagles, they were only down three, 18-15.

Brandon Olson put the finishing touches on the half with a three-pointer with 1:07 remaining giving the Buccaneers a 23-18 advantage into the half.

The maroon and gold used misdirection and design plays to confuse Windom.

Connor Barnett took a Luke Monson handoff from the top of the key and finished with a wide open layup giving the Bucs a 29-23 lead with 14:25 remaining in the second half.

It was all Bucs from then on.

Monson finished the game by scoring the final six points for BEA.

BEA 62, NRHEG 55

In a game which featured 15 lead changes and eight ties, the Blue Earth Area boys basketball team only cared about the final score in a game versus the New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva Panthers on Jan. 31.

The end result was a 62-55 victory for the Bucs.

It also indicates the Bucs are on their first winning streak of the season.

The maroon and gold were led by Luke Monson’s ninth double-double in a row; he scored 23 points and grabbed 12 rebounds.

Bailey Olson also pitched in with his own double-double; he had 10 points and a season-high 13 rebounds in the win.

The sixth win of the season did not come easy, however. BEA fell behind 10-0 early. They missed their first five shots and turned the ball over on three of their first five possessions.

The Bucs then scored six straight points to narrow the deficit.

A Monson put back finished off a 7-0 run for the Buccaneers and tied the game at 13-13.

The first half saw the two teams trade baskets and NRHEG take a 23-22 lead into the half.

Quinn Huisman opened the second half for the maroon and gold with a three-pointer, giving BEA their first lead since 18-17.

The Panthers then used a pair of three-pointers from Trevor Tracy and Oakley Baker to go on a 9-2 run and go up 31-25.

BEA answered with a quick 6-0 run of their own to even the score at 31-31.

Derek Johnson gave the Buccaneers their largest lead with a three, making the score 50-44 and scored the team’s next six points.

With the Bucs up six, the Panthers had one more comeback left in them to get back within one point of the lead, 53-52.

But this night belonged to the maroon and gold.

The Bucs made five consecutive free throws down the stretch to close out the game and end any hope of a Panthers comeback.

Baker had 15 points for NRHEG and Oakley contributed 14 in the losing effort.

The Buccaneers seven wins this year have come when they have scored 53 points or more. But, when the team fails to reach 53 points, they are only 1-7.

“We took advantage of our opportunities and put the clamps down on defense to come away with the victory.” Anderson says. “We played a pretty strong second half in this game.”