Boys basketball season continued this week as the Pine City Dragons went 1-1 over a two-game stretch. The Dragons finished the week with a 2-1 record overall.
It was a strange scheduling dichotomy as the Dragons started the week with a rare game against a talented Class AAAA opponent, and closed the week out with a lopsided win against an overmatched opponent from Class A.
Minneapolis Southwest 72, Pine City 55
The Lakers are long, strong and athletic. Hailing from the Minneapolis City Conference, Southwest is used to playing against teams from much larger schools. The pesky Dragons came ready to play in this road game on Tuesday, Dec. 5, playing opportunistic defense while tallying 18 steals, and doing surprisingly well on the glass against such a big school.
Pine City played Southwest to an even 33-33 tie at halftime and took a lead early in the second half on a made three-pointer from Clay Logan. Eventually, the Lakers would make a run and put the Dragons away.
“What a great opportunity for us to play a (Class) AAAA team like Southwest,” said Dragons Head Coach Kyle Allen. “It was a lot of fun and a great atmosphere. Felt like their length and athleticism ended up wearing us down some as the game went on. We did not shoot great, but we did enough on the offensive end to win the game. We did not do enough on the defensive end of the court to win. That was the difference in a win and a loss in that game. But what a great measuring stick for us.”
The Dragons struggled to match up against powerful senior forward Treavon Nystrom, who led the way for the Lakers and never missed a shot from the floor. Defensive rebounding opportunities were limited for the Dragons as the Lakers shot a high percentage. The Lakers also went on a big run after the Dragons switched their defense to an extended zone with about six minutes to play. That zone was easily victimized by Nystrom as the Lakers pulled away.
Pine City didn’t back down though as Jake Adams, Konnor Jusczak and Nick Hansmann all took big charges in the game.
“Our captains, Jake Rademacher and Clay Logan, are going to do a better job of leading us on the defensive end of the floor,” added Allen. “Making sure we are getting our rotations down and not only leading by example, but also holding everyone accountable on the floor and on the bench. When you play a big team like that, your mistakes and weaknesses are magnified.”
Logan led the way on the offensive end with 17 points, but the Dragons struggled to get open shots and seemed to have a problem creating good looks against solid defense.
Hansmann was the only other Dragon in double figures with 10. Pine City shot 19 percent from three.
Varsity: L (55-72)
JV: L (43-57)
C-Squad: L (18-56)
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