The last time these two teams met was 25 days ago in the first game of the Buc’s Holiday Tournament. That night the Jackson County Central Huskies handed the Bucs their first loss of the season by a margin of 16 points. It would be a different story this time as the Bucs would turn a one point half-time deficit into a five point victory as they defeated the Huskies 56-51.

“The key differences for this game were our ability to hit some perimeter shots, and our defense being able to stop their transition baskets,” commented Head Coach Gary Holmseth.

Those perimeter shots included six successful three point shots on the night with Logan Becker and Forrest Passer each hitting two and Mensing and Lee each hitting one.

Becker’s two three’s came early as the Bucs took an early 12-6 lead. That would be the largest margin for either team in the first half as JCC rallied behind the scoring of junior guard Patrick Garvin to pull into a 14-14 tie. It was the Huskies’ turn to hold the lead as they went up 18-14 before the Bucs would counter with two baskets to pull into an 18 all tie.

Trailing 21-20, the Bucs Nate Carr grabbed one of his five offensive rebounds and drew a foul while making the basket. He sank the free throw to put the Bucs up by two but they were unable to sustain that lead as JCC came back to grab a 26-25 half time advantage.

Garrett Mensing got the Bucs going in the second half as he converted a steal into a layup. The lead would change hands eight times during the first five minutes of the second half. Passer’s back to back three’s would put BEA up by five but JCC’s Scott Benson, who led all scorers with 27 points, drained a three to bring the Huskies back within two of the Bucs. Benson then added a basket to tie the game and Ryan Rasche sank two free throws to put JCC back out in front 43-41 with just under 8:30 remaining.

Mensing then connected on a three to put the Bucs back in front 44-43. Nick Lee drained his three pointer a short while later, giving the host team a 49-46 lead that they would not surrender. The Bucs would extend the lead to eight points at 56-48 before JCC’s Benson would hit one more three with under 15 seconds left to give the Bucs their final margin of victory.

“We made plays when we had to,” explained Coach Holmseth. “This was the first time all year that we’ve been able to come back after surrendering a second half lead, and I give Mensing and Passer credit for their solid play.”

Garrett Anderson led the Bucs in scoring with 12 points while Becker and Trasamar both reached double figures with 11 and 10 points respectively. The Bucs were 6-10 shooting free throws.

Carr had seven total rebounds followed by Nick Lee with six. Mensing led the Bucs with three steals.

The win gives the Bucs a 9-3 overall record while their conference record is 4-0.

The Bucs defeated New Ulm on the road last Thursday 77-46. Results will be in next week’s Register.



B squad JCC 57 BEA 50

The Buc B-squad, trailing 35-23 at half time, came out hustling in the second half and erased the deficit and took the lead 41-40 before the Huskies would recover and pull out a 57-50 win.

Leading scorer for the Bucs was Blake Racek with 16 points followed by Jared Smith and Charlie Garlick with 10 points each and Conner Racek who finished with nine.