BEA’s Abe Kokos, pictured above, scored 25 points when the Bucs defeated the Martin County West Mavericks 63-58 in non-conference basketball action.

Blue Earth Area senior Abe Kokos sank six shots from behind the arc in the first half on his way to scoring 25 points in the Bucs’ 63-58 win over the Martin County West Mavericks.

“Everyone is going to notice the 25 points and Abe played well on offense tonight,” BEA basketball coach Colby Swanson said after the game. “But, I am really proud of the way he played on the defensive end of the court. With Ashton Lloyd unavailable tonight, Abe really stepped up and had a great performance.”

Lloyd was not at the game because he was preparing to play in the Minnesota High School All Star Football game on Dec. 10.

“I am really proud of the team,” Swanson added. “They put forth a tremendous effort tonight.”

The Bucs knew they faced a difficult challenge against the Mavericks, who began the season ranked ninth in Class A.

“We had great ball movement against MCW,” Swanson commented. “We played with a lot of confidence.”

The Bucs and the Mavs traded the lead throughout the first half of the contest.

With the game tied at 24-24, Kokos connected on his fifth trey of the first half with 54 seconds to go until halftime to put BEA on top 27-24.

The Bucs regained possession of the ball and Kokos swished his sixth three-pointer of the night 10 seconds before intermission. MCW was unable to get a shot off before the first half ended and BEA took a 30-24 lead into the break.

“Jack (Norman) got into some early foul trouble and had to sit most of the first half,” Swanson said. “For us to have to play without Jack and still have a six-point lead at the half was a huge lift for our team.”

A runner by guard Max Loge got the Bucs off to a good start to open the second half, but two baskets by MCW center Zach Anderson cut BEA’s lead to four points at 32-28.

Norman got free underneath for an easy basket but then the senior forward picked up his third foul of the evening with 15:18 left in the game.

The Bucs continued to maintain a six-point advantage until MCW scored on an inbounds play and Anderson drove the lane for another two points to cut BEA’s lead to two points at 45-43 with just under 11 minutes remaining in the game.

Two drives by Bucs’ freshman Will Bromeland helped keep the Maroon and Gold in the lead but MCW kept answering with baskets on their end of the floor. With 9:21 remaining in the game, the Bucs held a 49-46 lead.

A pass by Norman to Bromeland put BEA up by five points.

Next, Austin Skaden, one of the smallest players on the court, made one of the biggest plays of the game.

The Mavericks had the ball on their end of the court when they lost control and it traveled past the midcourt line. Skaden outhustled the MCW player and picked the ball up and drove in for a layup to put the Bucs up by seven at 53-46 with 7:45 left in the game.

Bromeland added a basket from behind the arc to boost BEA’s lead to 56-46.

MCW showed why they are a good team and scored seven unanswered points to cut BEA’s margin to three points with 3:19 still left to play.

The Bucs’ lead had dwindled to two points when Skaden stepped to the free-throw line with 36 seconds showing on the scoreboard clock. Skaden sank both ends of a one-and-one to give BEA a 61-57 lead.

Kokos and Bromeland each added one more free throw and Anderson made one free throw for the Mavericks to close out the scoring and give the Bucs the 63-58 victory.

In addition to the 25 points scored by Kokos, Bromeland finished with 18 points and Skaden tallied 12.

The Bucs’ next game is Dec. 13, when they host United South Central.

BEA 65, JCC 63

The Blue Earth Area boys’ basketball team traveled to Jackson on Saturday, Dec. 3, for their second road game in three days.

And, for the second time in three days, they came home with a victory this time by edging the Huskies 65-63.

Jack Norman sank one of two free throws with 4.2 seconds left in the game to put the Bucs up by two points and the Huskies’ three-point attempt at the buzzer was off of the mark enabling BEA to go home with the 65-63 win.

BEA’s Ashton Lloyd hit a shot from the baseline to score the first two points of the game. Moments later JCC’s Christian Benda nailed a three-pointer to give the Huskies a 3-2 lead.

The Bucs regained the advantage on a turn-around jumper by Gage Barker but Roman Voss of the Huskies completed a traditional three-point play to put the home team on top 6-4.

Lloyd answered with a baseline three-pointer to stake the Bucs to a 7-6 lead and although the Huskies would eventually tie the score late in the contest, BEA would never trail again.

Later in the first half, Barker’s pull-up jumper in the lane gave BEA their biggest lead of the first half at 19-6.

JCC managed to shave some points off of their deficit and had narrowed BEA’s lead to 34-28 heading into the intermission.

The Huskies continued to battle and eventually tied the score at 56-56 with the scoreboard clock showing 3:18 left in the game.

The teams traded baskets before Lloyd sank his second three-pointer of the game to give the Bucs a 61-58 lead with 1:50 left to play.

A steal by BEA and a foul by JCC put Lloyd on the free-throw line with 1:14 remaining.

Lloyd made 1 of 2 attempts to increase the Bucs ‘advantage to 62-58, but a trey by JCC’s Erik Hesebeck cut BEA’s lead to 62-61.

Austin Skaden pushed the Bucs’ advantage back to three points at 64-61 when he sank two free throws with 42.3 seconds left in regulation.

The Huskies scored with eight seconds left to reduce the Bucs’ lead to 64-63. They then fouled Norman and the senior made one of two free throws to help BEA hold on for the 65-63 victory.

BEA shot 44 percent from the field compared to 42 percent for JCC. The Bucs made eight of their 19 three point attempts while the Huskies connected on nine of their 23 long-range shots.

Three Bucs reached double digits in scoring led by Will Bromeland with 16 points. Barker tallied 14 points and Lloyd added 12. Norman finished with nine points, Skaden and Abe Kokos had five points each and Max Loge scored four.

BEA went to the free-throw line 19 times and made 13 shots. JCC was 8 of 13 from the charity stripe.

Lloyd had four assists for the Bucs followed by Norman and Skaden with three each.

The Huskies held the edge in rebounding by a 35-21 margin.

Lloyd paced the Bucs with eight rebounds followed by Norman with three.

BEA committed 13 turnovers compared to 19 for JCC. The Bucs stole the ball 12 times while the Huskies finished with seven steals.

BEA 67, NRHEG 45

The Bucs got their season off to a good start when they went on the road Thursday, Dec. 1, defeating the New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva Panthers 67-45 in a non-conference game.

Blue Earth Area’s defense held the Panthers to 10 first-half points and took a 34-10 lead at the half.

Leading scorer for the Bucs was Abe Kokos with 15 points. Ashton Lloyd and Will Bromeland each had 12 points and Austin Skaden finished with 10. Gage Barker tallied eight points, Jack Norman finished with six and Nick Barke had four.

BEA shot 43 percent from the field including making 10 of their 27 three-point attempts. The Bucs shot 10 free throws and made seven.

The Maroon and Gold held a 37-25 edge in rebounding and had nine steals compared to six for the Panthers.

BEA committed 18 turnovers while NRHEG had 11.