The St. James defenders can only watch at BEA’s Will Bromeland rises above them to score two points in the Bucs’ 84-62 victory over the Saints on Jan 30.

Luverne made the most of their 30 trips to the charity stripe to make 23 free throws while Blue Earth Area only made nine trips to the free-throw line and made six of their attempts. The Cardinals’ 17-point advantage on free shots propelled them to an 81-72 victory on their home floor on Monday, Feb. 2.

Halftime found Luverne leading 34-31. The Cardinals then outscored the Bucs 47-41 in the second half.

The Bucs made 19 of their 38 shots (50 percent) from two-point range compared to the Cardinals’ 20-for-54 (37 percent).

When it came to three-point shots, BEA was 11-for-31 (35.5 percent) while Luverne was 1-for-12 (8.3 percent).

The Bucs had a 34-30 edge in rebounding and committed 18 turnovers to eight for Luverne.

Will Bromeland recorded a double-double with a team-leading 31 points and 12 rebounds. Sully Dahlberg added 18 points and Ryder Dutton made three shots from behind the arc to finish with nine points.

Devin Haase led BEA with three assists.

The Bucs’ record now stands at 11 wins and six losses.

BEA was back in action on Feb. 6 when they played host to Redwood Valley. The Bucs have two more home games next week. They host Minnesota Valley Lutheran on Feb. 10 and St. Peter on Feb. 12.

BEA 84,

St. James Area 62

The visiting St. James Area Saints and the host Blue Earth Area Buccaneers were evenly matched through the first 21 minutes of their boys basketball game on Jan. 30. A trey by the Bucs’ Will Bromeland with 14:30 remaining in the game broke a 41-41 tie and the Maroon and Gold pulled away for an 84-62 victory.

Bromeland followed his three-pointer with a coast-to-coast layup that extended BEA’s lead to 46-41. Devin Haase found Sully Dahlberg open on a back-door cut which resulted in a basket and Dahlberg getting fouled. Dahlberg sank the free throw to compete the traditional three-point play and the Bucs were up 49-41.

Caden Juba was fouled while scoring on a baseline drive. His free throw was good to put BEA ahead by 11 points.

And Juba wasn’t done. Ryder Dutton’s steal triggered a two-on-one fast break that led to a layup by Juba. Then, the Bucs’ point guard scored again on a turn-around jumper in the lane to give BEA a 56-41 lead with 10:45 remaining in the game.

The Saints finally broke their five-minute scoring drought with just under 10 minutes showing on the scoreboard clock, but by then the Bucs had seized control and went on to win by 22 points.

BEA’s ability to attack the basket led to them scoring 50 of their points in the paint. They were 25-for-39 (64 percent) on their two-point attempts and 8-for-20 (40 percent) on their three-point shots. They made 10 of their 17 (59 percent) free throws.

St. James Area was 14-for-30 (47 percent) from inside the arc and 9-for-30 (30 percent) from outside the arc. They were 7-for-10 (70 percent) from the free-throw line.

Each team had 34 rebounds. The Bucs had 11 turnovers to 12 for the Saints.

Bromeland had a double-double with 31 points and 10 rebounds. Dahlberg just missed a double-double. He scored 17 points and had nine rebounds. Juba finished with 15 points and Haase had six while Peter Fletcher contributed with seven rebounds.

Haase, Dutton and Dahlberg each had three assists and Dahlberg had three blocked shots.

BEA 73, TCU 59

The Blue Earth Area boys basketball team took a 39-29 lead into the half in their home game against the Tri-City United Titans on Jan. 29 The Bucs then outscored the Titans by a 34-30 margin in the second half to win the contest by a final score of 73-59.

The Bucs shot 59 percent from inside the arc, making 23 of their 39 attempts. They made 32 percent of their 3-point attempts, making six of their 19 shots. They made 71.4 percent of their shots from the free-throw line where they attempted 14 shots and made 10.

TCU was 14-for-33 (42 percent) from insided the arc and 4-for-13 (31 percent) from outside the arc. They were 3-for-9 (33.3 percent) on their free throw attempts.

The Bucs had a 33-30 advantage in rebounding and only committed eight turnovers compared to 16 for the Titans.

Four BEA players reached double figures in scoring led by Will Bromeland with 20. Peter Fletcher finished with 18, Sully Dahlberg had 12 and Tate Elzenga finished with 10.

Fletcher led the team with seven rebounds followed by Dahlberg with six and Bromeland with five.

Caden Juba and Dahlberg each had five assists while Bromeland and Fletcher each had three steals.