2/24/21: H-F

Highlights: http://www.hudl.com/v/2F73xX

JV: W

V: W (75-72 OT)

Dragons boys basketball beat Jaguars, fall to Tigers

Staff report Mar 2, 2021

The Pine City High School boys basketball squad had another see-saw week, beating Hinckley-Finlayson in an overtime game before losing a tight contest with Rush City.

Pine City 74,  Hinckley-Finlayson 72 (OT) 

Coach Kyle Allen said that Hinckley-Finlayson came to play on Feb. 23, and the team really had to claw back to secure this victory.

“We knew coming in that Hinckley-Finlayson would come out very aggressive and be really trying to rebound the ball well,” Allen said. “We worked hard at the start of the game and found ourselves up 20-12. Hinckley was able to go on a run to end the half, but we found ourselves with a three-point lead at halftime.”

Allen said that the team seemed to be in a fog coming out of halftime. 

“Hinckley took advantage of it,” he said. “They jumped all over us and had a 12 point lead over us halfway through the second half.”

But basketball is a game of runs, and the Dragons came roaring back from the deficit. 

“We were able to really dig in on the defensive end and on the boards, and luckily, it wasn’t too little too late on this night,” Allen said. “We were able to come back and force overtime and Kameron Jusczak and Caleb Fromm were able to knock down their free throws down the stretch.”

Luke Wilson hit a big three at the end of the game and landed a free throw to force the overtime, and the Dragons ended with a two-point victory on the night. 

Jusczak led the Dragons on the boards with 12 followed by Fromm and Dylan Petersen with six. Petersen took two charges while Jusczak took one. Petersen and Luke Wilson led the team in assists with four each. 

Allen lauded his JV players for their game against the Jags, and noted that eighth-grader Charlie Ausmus hit a game winning three to give the squad a win on Tuesday night. 

“When we played H-F earlier in the year, we lost by 15 points,” Allen said. “There are always a lot of factors that go into a basketball game, especially when talking about high school and youth basketball, but I was really proud of how the JV has continued to work this year. They are young and inexperienced, but they are showing good growth.”