×
×
homepage logo

Bucs can’t hang with Saints, lose 87-70

But defeat Maple River 63-54 to snap five-game losing streak

By Kevin Mertens - Staff Writer | Jan 26, 2025

BEA’s Will Bromeland finds himself all alone for an easy basket in the Bucs’ 63-54 victory over the host Maple River Eagles on Jan. 17.

The Blue Earth Area Buccaneers boys basketball team continued their tour of southern Minnesota when they played their sixth consecutive game on the road at St. Peter on Jan. 21. Unfortunately for BEA, it was the home team that came out on top in the contest 87-70.

It was an even game through the first two thirds of the opening stanza. However, with six minutes to play in the first half, the Saints, who were trailing 29-27, went on an 11-0 run that wasn’t broken until the Bucs’ Gage Barker connected for a 3-pointer with a little over three minutes to play until halftime. The first half ended with St. Peter leading 42-35.

The Saints outscored the Bucs 45-35 in the second half to claim the 17-point victory.

BEA was 11-for-25 (44 percent) on their 2-point attempts and 15-for-27 (55.6 percent) on their 3-point shots. They made three of their five (60 percent) free throw attempts.

St. Peter made 29 of their 42 (69 percent) shots from inside the arc and going 7-for-17 (41.2 percent) from outside the arc. They went to the charity stripe 11 times and made eight of their shots (72.7 percent).

The Saints scored 54 of their points in the paint compared to 20 for the Bucs.

St. Peter held a slight edge in rebounding, 25-23.

Leading scorer for the Bucs was Barker with 23 points. Branson Hauskins and Sully Dahlberg also reached double figures in scoring. Hauskins tallied 20 points and Dahlberg added 18. Jacob Grandgenett finished with nine.

Barker led the team in rebounds with six while Grandgenett was the team leader in assists with five.

The loss drops the Bucs’ record to one game below .500 at seven wins and eight losses. With the win, the Saints improve their record to 8-8.

The Bucs hosted Tri-City at home on Friday, Jan. 24. They will host Waseca on Monday Jan. 27, before going back on the road to take on Minnesota Valley Lutheran, in New Ulm, on Tuesday, Jan. 28.

BEA 63, Maple River 54

Blue Earth Area fell behind to Maple River 2-0 in their boys basketball contest on Jan. 17 before a single second had ticked off the game clock. However, the Bucs would prevail in the end by defeating the host Eagles 63-54.

A technical foul for dunking the basketball during pregame warm-ups put the Eagles on the line to begin the game. They took possession of the ball after the technical and put the ball through the hoop to take a 4-0 lead.

With Will Bromeland scoring six of the Bucs’ next eight points, BEA took the lead and never trailed again.

The Bucs led 32-19 at the half and held on for a nine-point victory.

BEA was 18-for-27 (66.7 percent) on their shots inside the arc and 6-for-27 (22.2 percent) on their shots from outside the arc. The Bucs made all nine of their free throw attempts.

Maple River was 15-for 33 (45.5 percent) on 2-pointers, 6-for-16 (37.5 percent) on 3-pointers and 6-for-14 (42.9 percent) from the free-throw line.

The Bucs had a 33-24 advantage in rebounding.

Will Bromeland was the leading scorer with 29 points followed by Gage Barker with 20.

Bromeland had eight rebounds while Sully Dahlberg finished with six.

JCC 70, BEA 52

After trailing the Jackson County Central Huskies by only six points after the first half of play, the Blue Earth Area Bucs looked to overtake their opponent in the final stanza.

The Huskies had a different idea and pulled away for a 70-52 victory over the Bucs in a game played in Jackson on Thursday, Jan. 16.

JCC scored 48 of their points in the paint compared to 26 for BEA.

Branson Hauskins was the leading scorer for the Bucs with 16 points followed by Will Bromeland with 13.