1/30/18: Braham

Pine City Pioneer, Jesse Logan

With a pair of home games this past week, the Pine City boys basketball team enjoyed the comforts of home. The team had played just three of their previous 13 games at home, and was more than happy to pick up a couple of nice wins in front of their fans. Pine City is now 15-5 overall with six games to play.

Pine City 74, Braham 42

This was the Dragons first home win over Braham since Dec. 13, 2007. Stopping a home drought that had lasted more than a decade was sweet, and Pine City seemed to be enjoying the moment as the game went along. Parents and players alike appreciated the moment.

“Braham is a rivalry game,” said Dragons Head Coach Kyle Allen. “Braham has had such success and was the face of basketball for this area for so long. Our boys understand the history that is there, how much this game means. Some people only come watch that game and our whole season is judged by them based on how we do in that game. We can have big games, good or bad, with other teams, but when we play Braham, I receive the most correspondence from alumni, community members, and others than all other games combined. We know what playing Braham means to them.”

The Dragons played great defense all night and limited the Bombers by beating them to lots of loose and 50/50 balls, and rebounding relentlessly. Pine City was clearly eager to move their season along after the painful two-point loss to Hinckley-Finlayson in the game prior.

“We wanted to get that taste out of our mouths,” Allen said of his boys’ return to the hardwood. “We played gritty defense all night.  I liked how we tried to get in defensive position and take charges in the game, we ended up taking four in the game. Seth Logan has been an absolute beast on the boards for us; 13 boards, 12 of them being defensive, is unbelievably important to our team. Seth is starting to flex his ability on the boards and it is showing up big for us.”

Balanced scoring was also a key as five players scored seven or more points. Seth Logan led the way with 19 as he tallied another double-double. Clay Logan had 16 while going 5-7 from the floor. Nick Hansmann had 13 and Konnor Jusczak had 12. Jake Rademacher had his focus on the defensive end as he drew the assignment of guarding Braham forward Levi Wylie. Rademacher helped the Dragons shut down the lefty, holding him to zero points.

Pine City won going away in this one, which was played on Tuesday, Jan. 30. Two nights later the team would have a much tighter game to earn their second victory of the week.

Varsity: W (74-42)
JV: W (71-60)
C-Squad: W (59-29)