The Blue Earth Area Buccaneers boys basketball team had little trouble with the Panthers of NRHEG on Jan. 19 by cruising to a 70-57 win in New Richland.

“We took control of the game early and held a comfortable lead the entire game,” Coach Gary Holmseth said.

BEA had three players in double figures, who accounted for 61 of their 70 points.

Nate Carr led the team with 26 points, but he was followed closely by Garrett Anderson who added 24 of his own.

Nick Lee had 11 points in the scoring column, along with three steals and six rebounds.

Anderson had seven rebounds and three steals, while Carr had six rebounds and four steals.

The Bucs shot 29 of 54 from the floor, compared to 23 of 50 for the Panthers. BEA made 11 of their 17 free-throw attempts. NRHEG made 7 of 11.

The Bucs grabbed 28 rebounds while the Panthers had 24 boards.

The win made the Bucs record 6-5, 2-2 in the South Central Conference.

“Our four game winning streak is a result of us not allowing our opponents scoring spurts, hitting our free throws, and our rebounding toughness,” Holmseth noted.

The Bucs travel to Fairmont for a double-header game on Friday of this week.BEA 55, St. James 41

For the second game in a row, the Blue Earth Area Buccaneers exploded for a lot of points in the second half to gain a big win.

This time it was the St. James Saints on the receiving end of the barrage. In a game played in St. James on Jan. 16, the Bucs got a convincing 55-41 win over the host team.

The game was close at the halftime buzzer, with BEA up by only two points at 20-18. However, the Bucs outscored the Saints 35-23 in the second period.

“After a slim halftime lead we played pretty well in the second half,” Coach Gary Holmseth said. “Our passing is becoming better and we scored against their press.”

Nate Carr continued his blistering play and led the Bucs with 18 points in the South Central Conference victory.

Nick Lee added 15 points, and Garrett Anderson nine. Anderson also grabbed 13 rebounds for the Bucs.

The Bucs were 21 of 41 shooting from the court, and made 11 of 16 from the free-throw line.

St. James made 17 of their 46 shots from the floor, and made 5 of the 6 free throws they attempted.

The win upped the Bucs record to .500, at 5-5 overall and 2-2 in the conference.

Next up for the BEA boys is a trip to Fairmont on Friday for a doubleheader game of both boys and girls varsity teams.