Buccaneer boys remain undefeated
Bromeland tallies 23 points in 64-47 triumph over the Rebels

Blue Earth Area’s Will Bromeland (30), pictured left, and USC’s Johnny Martinez (1), pictured right, led their respective teams in scoring in a game played in Blue Earth on Tuesday, Dec. 13. Bromeland scored 23 points for the Bucs while Martinez tallied 16 for the Rebels.
The Blue Earth Area Buccaneers overcame a scrappy United South Central Rebels’ team to win their fourth game of the year against no losses. The Bucs’ 64-47 win came on their home floor on Tuesday, Dec. 13.
BEA got off to a slow start and found themselves trailing 20-11 when USC’s Taybor Conley’s turnaround jumper swished through the nets with 6:32 left in the first half.
At that point the Bucs began to chip away at the Rebels’ lead. Freshman guard Will Bromeland’s jumper in the lane with 4:45 left before intermission cut USC’s lead to two points at 20-18.
Nick Bushlack stopped the BEA run and pushed USC’s lead back to four points but a free throw by the Bucs’ Max Loge and a traditional three-point play by Ashton Lloyd tied the game at 22 points each.
BEA took their first lead of the game since the opening basket when Lloyd got open in the lane for two points. A steal by Austin Skaden led to another Bucs’ score when he found Bromeland who hit a runner to give the Maroon and Gold a 26-22 lead with 2:59 left in the half.
After USC guard Johnny Martinez scored on a drive to the basket, Bromeland struck again with a baseline three-pointer to extend the BEA lead to 29-24.
By the time the buzzer sounded to end the first half the Bucs had taken a 33-26 lead.
“We played very well early on, especially on the defensive end,” USC coach Adam Walker said. “BEA caught fire and started putting a lot of pressure on us defensively. Plus, we got into foul trouble which really put a stop to our momentum.”
The Rebels began the second half much like they had begun the game. Their hustle and scrappy play enabled them to keep closing the gap on the Bucs’ lead.
USC’s Zale Bushlack completed a baseline drive for two points to cut BEA’s lead to one point at 42-41 about seven minutes into the final stanza.
Skaden and Zale Bushlack each picked up their fourth foul with just under 11 minutes remaining in the game.
An inbounds play by the Bucs resulted in an easy basket for Bromeland. After stopping the Rebels on their next possession, BEA scored again when Bromeland connected with Gage Barker on a back-door pass to build the Bucs’ lead back to five points at 46-41.
A drive and basket by USC’s Aiden Crabtree cut BEA’s lead to three points with just over nine minutes remaining to play, but it would be as close as the Rebels would get.
A basket by Barker and consecutive buckets by Lloyd stretched the Bucs’ lead back to nine points at 52-43 with eight minutes to play.
“Blue Earth’s depth and shooting ability started to really wear us down late as they pulled away,” Walker explained. “Our shots started falling short, multiple players were in foul trouble, and frankly, we just became wore out down the stretch. We turned the ball over a little too much when it counted and BEA seemed to always take advantage of those.”
The Bucs made 22 of 37 (59 percent) field goals from inside the arc and were 3 of 12 (25 percent) from outside of the arc.
The Rebels shot 32 two-pointers and made 12 (38 percent). They attempted 21 shots from outside the arc and made six (29 percent).
BEA went to the free-throw line 17 times and made 11 (65 percent). USC attempted eight free throws and made five (63 percent).
Bromeland was the leading scorer for the game with 23 points. Also reaching double figures for the Bucs were Lloyd with 15 points and Skaden with 10. Barker tallied eight points while Abe Kokos had six.
Martinez led the Rebels with 16 points followed by Zale Bushlack with 14 and Nick Bushlack with nine.
BEA totaled 40 rebounds to 28 for the Rebels.
The Bucs played host to Fairmont on Friday, Dec. 16, while USC was home against Kenyon-Wanamin- go on the same evening.
Look for results of those games in next week’s edition of the Faribault County Register.