Gators stifled by Freeze
By: Ryan Bergeron
GREENBUSH, MINN— Following his team’s first loss of the season versus Thief River Falls on December 29, Freeze Boys’ Basketball Head Coach Zach Green said he talked about effort, defense, and rebounding with his team. His team got that in a 67-33 game versus the Badger/Greenbush-Middle River Gators on Thursday, January 5.
“We know some nights we’re not going to shoot great. There’s nothing you can do about it, but you can make sure your effort’s there and that’s defense, rebounding,” Coach Green said. “… You work hard, you’re going to be in every game; you’ll give yourselves a chance to win no matter how good the offense can be.”
Opening runs in both the first and second half helped the Freeze create some separation. Wyatt Bannerman hit a two-pointer to give the Freeze a 13-0 lead with 11:42 left in the first half. The Freeze opened the second half on a 11-3 run, capped by a Jonah Underdahl two-pointer, putting the Gators in a 47-27 hole.
In the game, the Freeze connected on eight three-pointers, with six players hitting at least one-- a product of, Freeze Head Coach Zach Green said, his team’s trust.
“We talked to the kids about trusting each other and it’s so much more fun to play the game then,” Coach Green said. “And we go a period where we do it and some periods we don’t. As long as we keep doing more and more of it, this team has a lot more fun that way.”
From the field, the Freeze shot 39 percent from the field, led by Freeze senior captain Connor Sorenson’s 15 points.
“You need to have a good captain. He leads by example. He kind of had a little rough stretch there against TR (Thief River Falls), like everyone,” Coach Green said. “… It’s fun to have him around. He’s stepped up; he’s matured, so it’s kind of cool to see those kids take over that role.”
Kaden Monsebroten also hit double figures for the Freeze with 10 points. Ellert Adamek and Sawyer Nelson each scored nine points to also pace the Freeze offense.
On the other end, the Gators scored its fewest points of the season, shooting 13 percent from the field. They did make 15 of 21 free throws, but those opening half runs did in it for Gator Head Coach Kent Christian’s team, playing in their first game since December 22.
“You know, we can sit there and make the excuse, well, we haven’t played for two weeks and that definitely showed tonight, but we were nowhere to be found tonight,” Coach Christian said.
Asked about the impact of the Freeze’s ball movement in creating open looks against him team, Coach Christian said this.
“We said that before. They’re having a great year… they played very, very well together, coached very well. I was very impressed.”
The Gator offense didn’t score its first point until a Jake Taggart free throw with 11:26 in the first half making the score 13-1. Taggart made the Gators’ first shot--a layup with 8:34 remaining in the first half--to cut the score to 18-4. In that first half Coach Christian used four of his five timeouts, trailing 32-13 before the fourth timeout.
Following that timeout and now trailing 34-13 after a pair of Sawyer Nelson free throws with 3:34 remaining in the first half, the Gators closed the half on an 11-2 run, capped by a Connor Graff three-pointer with two seconds remaining, drawing the Gators to within 12 at 36-24. The Gators would get no closer, getting outscored 31-9 in the second half.
Offensively, no Gator player hit double figures, but Skyler Forst led the team in scoring with seven points. Graff and Austin Aune each chipped in six apiece.
Asked what he’s looking from his team following this loss and throughout the rest of the season, Coach Christian said, “show a little bit of heart.”
Next Action: After having played a road game versus the Stephen-Argyle Storm on Tuesday, January 10, the Gator boys return home to play the Warren-Alvarado-Oslo Ponies on Thursday, January 12. They head back on the road to play the Lake of the Woods Bears on Friday, January 13 and then the Goodridge/Grgyla-Gatzke Chargers on Monday, January 16.
Copyright of The Tribune (Greenbush, Minn.) and the North Star News (Karlstad, Minn.)