Dragon Boys Basketball overtake rivals
Pine City 83, Rush City 65
The Dragons then hosted their rival, the Rush City Tigers, on Friday night. The gym was packed, and the fans were ready to cheer on their Dragons. Rush City started the game with a bucket under the basket, but Wilson answered back with a nice put-back.
The Dragons and the Tigers played a tight game, and it was tied 9-9 just five minutes into the game. The Dragon boys played a physical game, worked hard grabbing the boards and got a significant lead going into half-time. They came out strong, with a nice lead of 42-26. Senior Jason Thieman started off the second half with a baseline three, bringing the crowd to their feet in excitement. The energy in the gym was infectious. To those who were watching the game, it felt closer than the scoreboard showed; the Dragon boys were working hard and perfecting their game with every play.
With six minutes left in the game, the Dragons led 61-41. We again were able to see some minutes from the guys on the bench, and they played a great game, contributing with the skills they had. The Dragons would finish strong with a score of 83-65.
Coach Allen and the Dragons knew this was going to be a physical game, coming against an athletic and strong Rush City team. The community came and showed their support, making it a fun game to be at.
Coach Allen said, “We want the only difference in games to be how the shots are going to fall because that’s a little out of our control. We make sure we take the right shots and have guys in the right spot, but no one goes into a game to purposely miss … so as long as we continue to take good shots, we will continue with the ups and downs of the game. And we will rely on that other end, the defense and rebounding.”
Senior Colton Blaisdell went two for two from the three point line, and Wilson, Peterson and Jusczak would all end up in the double digits. Peterson and Jusczak also worked hard grabbing rebounds and each had eight. Peterson, Jusczak and Wilson each had three steals, showing their work ethic on defense.
When asked about the game against Rush City, Cole Waxberg responded, “It was a fun game, a lot of people there, pretty hyped. It’s always fun playing Rush City because they’re one of our bigger rivals.”
Kameron Jusczak said, “Staying disciplined and having high energy right away is what won the game for us in the end.”
Dylan Peterson noted, “One of our goals was to not let Rush City out rebound us, and we did a good job rebounding. Different players like Mason Charles, Riley Cummings, Lamont Sydney and Isaiah Hasz had some big rebounds throughout the game.”
The Dragon boys will host the Mille Lacs Raiders on Thursday, and then the Hinckley-Finlayson Jaguars on Friday.
Highlights: http://www.hudl.com/v/2GqaLp
Varsity: W (83-65)
JV: W
C-Squad: W
