Bucs upset Bulldogs

• Jake Tescher

Press Photo by John Odermann Beach senior forward Jake Tescher, right, goes strong to the hoop against Bowman County senior forward Kenzie Robertson during their District 13 boys basketball tournament semifinal game at Scott Gymnasium on Saturday night. The Buccaneers knocked off the top-seeded Bulldogs.

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It was Beach’s 5-foot-9 David, Justin Maus, versus the Bowman County Goliaths. But it wasn’t a pebble the junior used to defeat the giants — it was a basketball.

Maus tallied 19 points and hit four consecutive free throws in the final minute to lead No. 4 seed Beach to a 50-45 victory over No. 1 seed Bowman County in the District 13 boys basketball semifinals Saturday at Scott Gymnasium.

“Smallest guy on the court,” Beach coach Troy Hoffer said. “But when it comes down to it, he always wants the ball in his hands.”

The Buccaneers’ defense created turnover after turnover, which helped take them on 10-3 run that began with two minutes left in the first quarter and ended midway through the second.

“That run at the end of the first quarter, Justin Maus was just hitting, so we got the ball to him,” Beach senior forward Jake Tescher said.

Bowman County had 23 turnovers to Beach’s 10.

“I thought Beach did a nice job putting pressure on the basketball and we turned it over too many times,” Bowman County head coach Gary Ballard said. “Beach did a nice job. You got to give them a lot of credit, they played hard.”

Bowman County (15-5) responded late in the first half by closing the gap to three points at 20-17, but Maus had an answer, hitting a 3-pointer to make it a six-point lead. The Bucs (13-8) went into halftime with a 26-19 lead.

“We wanted to get them in the backcourt, because we figured if they got into the front court or their half court game we’re going to be in trouble,” Hoffer said. “We were trying to force as many turnovers and disrupt them as much as possible.”

Coming out of the break, Bowman County manufactured its own 9-2 run to start the third quarter and tied the game 28-28.

The Bulldogs were led by senior guard Brock Boos, who had 16 points and six rebounds and four assists, and senior center Tyler Fischer’s 12 points and four rebounds.

“We got back into a position to take the lead a couple times and we just couldn’t get over the hump,” Ballard said.

The teams traded points deep into the third quarter when, with Beach up 45-43, Maus was sent to the line by an Alex Wolf foul. Maus made both shots to extend his team’s lead to four, but the Bulldogs answered with a bucket of their own.

Seconds later Maus found himself at the line again and the result was the same — two makes and a four-point lead.

“Clutch, he’s a pretty good free throw shooter and he can do it under pressure,” Tescher said.

Maus said it was nice to get a win against a team like Bowman County, which had defeated Beach by 33 points earlier in the season.

“This was huge, I think this is what our team really needed to get rolling. This is a real confidence booster for us,” Maus said. “We’re not one of those teams that’s good enough to just show up and play, we’ve got to bring our ‘A’ game every night.”

Beach advances face No. 2 seed Hettinger (16-5) in the District 13 championship game at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Bowman County will play No. 7 seed New England (6-15) in a regional-qualifier game at 7:30 p.m. Monday.

Beach 15 26 32 50

BC 13 19 31 45

B: Justin Maus 19, Lance Dykins 9, Nolan Niece 8, Jake Tescher 7, Derek Weinreis 5, Austin Bagley 2.

BC: Brock Boos 16, Tyler Fischer 12, Tyson Harding 8, Kenzie Robertson 6, Alex Wolf 2, Jarren Lutes 1.

3-pointers: Maus 2, Niece, Boos 4. Free throws: B 11-22, BC 1-5. Total fouls: B 7, BC 21. Fouled out: Robertson. Rebounds: B 31 (Maus 5), BC 35 (Harding 8). Assists: B 10 (Weinreis 8), BC 15 (Boos 4). Steals: B 16 (Weinreis 9), BC 3 (Boos, Robertson, Fischer). Blocks: B 0, BC 1 (Wolf). Turnovers: B 10, BC 23.

Tags: sports, preps, region, 7