The BRLD Boys won 63-50 at Oakland-Craig Friday night before falling 45-38 at home to Mead in overtime on Saturday.
The Wolverines tripled up Oakland-Craig 18-6 in the first quarter. The Knights won the second quarter 15-14 to make it a 32-21 game at halftime.
Oakland-Craig outlasted BRLD 12-11 in the third quarter to make it a 43-33 game at the end of three.
The Wolverines outscored the Knights 20-17 in the fourth quarter.
Kenyan Lovejoy had a game-high 20 points for BRLD while Aaron Ras notched 14. Montana Riecken added 13 points and 7 rebounds while Wyatt Hennig totaled 7 points.
The Raiders led the Wolverines 14-8 after one. BRLD won the second quarter 8-7 to make it a 21-16 game at halftime.
The Wolverines outscored Mead 9-2 in the third quarter to go up 25-23 at the end of three.
The Raiders outlasted BRLD 11-9 in the fourth quarter to send the game into overtime.
Mead outlasted the Wolverines 11-4 in the extra session.
Lovejoy led the way with 12 points and 8 rebounds while Cole Christofferson and Riecken registered 8 and 7 points, respectively.
I thought BRLD played a great game Friday, but simply came up short against an excellent Mead team on Saturday.
The Wolverines (9-4) take on Wakefield (10-4) on the road Thursday night.
The Trojans beat Stanton 68-50 at home on Saturday.
Wakefield is a good team, but I think the Trojans have definitely benefited from a light schedule.
BRLD needs to come ready to play though. The Wolverines' inconsistencies have hurt them at times this year, and if BRLD isn't on top of their game Thursday night they could lose, in my opinion.
When the Wolverines are on, they are a state team, but when BRLD has trouble scoring is when they lose.
The Wolverines just have to find a way to become more consistent offensively.
The defense has been there for BRLD lately, it's just a matter of the kids putting the ball in the basket night in and night out.
I think the Trojans could pose a threat to the Wolverines if BRLD isn't on their game offensively.
Wakefield's offense is more than capable of carrying them to victory.
So with this said, if the Wolverines are on top of their game, I think they win by 15-20, but if BRLD is off and their offense struggles, then I could see Wakefield taking the game.
I feel the Wolverines could have only one or two losses right now if their offense was lights out night in and night out.
BRLD is 9-0 when they score over 50 and 0-4 when held under 50 if that tells you anything.
We'll see which Wolverines' team shows up Thursday night, and what kind of an impact the weather and no practice earlier in the week has on BRLD.
I don't think there's any doubt the Wolverines can win, but the Trojans aren't just going to come out and roll over and hand the game to BRLD.
The Wolverines have to earn their points and their rebounds, and work hard and bring the lunch pail to work.
BRLD has to do everything they can to grind things out and find a way to win.
The BRLD Girls lost 70-58 at Oakland-Craig Friday night before downing Mead 84-15 at home on Saturday.
The Wolverines led the Knights 15-13 after one. BRLD won the second quarter 17-16 to take a 32-29 lead into the locker room.
Oakland-Craig outscored the Wolverines 17-12 in the third quarter to go up 46-44 at the end of three.
The Knights outlasted BRLD 24-14 in the fourth quarter.
Vicki Gatzemeyer led the way with 13 points while Kelly Wakeley chipped in 12 points and 8 rebounds. Lexie Bacon and Tess Nottleman notched 11 points apiece. Nottleman added 13 rebounds to record a double-double. Tiahna Bonneau pitched in 8 rebounds.
The Wolverines jumped on the Raiders 26-2 after one. BRLD outscored Mead 25-6 in the second quarter to take a 51-8 lead into the locker room.
The Wolverines blanked the Raiders 19-0 in the third quarter to go up 70-8 at the end of three.
BRLD doubled up Mead 14-7 in the fourth quarter.
Bacon led all scorers with 24 points while Bonneau and Sophia Henneman notched 14 and 10, respectively. Gatzemeyer totaled 9 while Nottleman posted 7.
I thought the Wolverines did a nice job responding on Saturday. In my opinion, BRLD's defense was much better than it was Friday when they gave up 42 points to Oakland-Craig's Dacey Nelson.
The Wolverines (10-4) take on Wakefield (5-9) on the road Thursday night.
The Trojans lost 41-29 at home to Stanton on Saturday.
Wakefield may have played the Mustangs close, but the Trojans have been blown out in pretty much every other loss this season.
Wakefield's wins have to teams with well below .500 records as well.
So I guess what I'm trying to say is BRLD should win, although upsets can happen at anytime in the game of basketball.
I do think it's a matter of how much the Wolverines will win by though.
BRLD is coming off a lopsided win while the Trojans lost a close one the last time out so something has to give on Thursday in terms of the score.
If the Wolverines play the way they did on Saturday they should have no trouble winning whatsoever.
But if BRLD has a defensive performance like Friday's game then things could be much closer.
Offense and scoring isn't an issue for the Wolverines, it's all about being consistent defensively, in my opinion.
BRLD is a solid team defensively, but only 3-4 when allowing over 50 points.
On the flip side, the Wolverines are undefeated when holding teams below 50.
Offense hasn't been a problem at all for BRLD, it's just the defense has let them down in a number of games this season.
So perhaps if the Wolverines focus on playing amazing defense night in and night out it will make all the difference.
I don't want to de-emphasize the importance of playing outstanding offense at all, I am merely pointing out where I think BRLD can get better, and what can allow them to become an even already better team than what they already are.
I think Saturday's win was a big step in the right direction from a consistency on defense standpoint. I'm interested what to see what it does for the Wolverines the rest of the season.
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