Blue Jay Boys Season Ends At Regions
Stanley’s varsity boys’ basketball team entered the Region 3 tournament at the Minot State University Dome on Monday, Mar. 9 as the number five seed, facing number four Rugby in a rematch of their game just the week prior.
The teams were tied at the end of the first quarter, but Rugby used a strong second quarter to take a nine point lead into the half. Although the Blue Jays would cut that lead at the end of the third and the game would be tied five times, it would not be enough as Rugby went on to claim the 62 to 51 victory and advance in the region tournament.
Head coach Kory Anderson said, “What a fun game to coach. The boys played really hard and played with confidence. Unfortunately, we didn’t do the little things like rebounding and ball security. We shot the ball extremely well and almost shot an effective field goal percentage of 60%. Our downfall was our 17 turnovers and Rugby’s offensive rebounding. We had a hard time controlling the glass. Tyke and Ashton both made three 3 pointers and shot at a high percentage. Ben Hynek showed a lot of toughness playing through multiple injuries. I commend Ben for working through his injuries and playing for his community and teammates. I thought Jevon showed a lot of leadership during the game encouraging kids to give a little bit more.
The season didn’t go as we would like, as we were hoping to be more competitive for the entire season. With early season injuries, it caused players to play out of position and once we got Ben back it was clear that we could compete with the teams on our schedule. Getting Ben back allowed the other players to get back to their true positions. We have some pieces; we need to work hard this offseason to get the consistency.”
As a team, the Blue Jays made including 11 of their 25 two point and 9 of their 17 three point attempts. They made 2 of their 6 free throw attempts. That compared to 26 of their 58 two point and 2 of their 15 three point attempts for the Panthers. They converted 4 of their 12 free throw attempts.
The Blue Jays had 23 total rebounds, including 4 offensive and 19 defensive boards. They had 8 assists, 6 blocks and 2 steals. They committed 17 turnovers. The Panthers had 49 total rebounds, including 29 offensive and 20 defensive boards. They had 10 assists, 2 blocks, 14 steals and committed just 7 turnovers.
Stanley was led by Ben Hynek with 14 points, followed by Ashton Peterson with 12, Jevon Johnson and Tyke Barstad with 9 each, Austin Kanenwisher with 5 and Landon Goettle with 2.
Ben Hynek had 8 rebounds, followed by Ashton Peterson with 4, Jevon Johnson with 3, Austin Kanenwisher with 2, and Brody Gjellstad, Landon Hunting and Larson Fjeldahl with 1 each.
Jevon Johnson had 4 assists, followed by Ben Hynek and Tyke Barstad with 2 each.
Austin Kanenwisher had 3 blocks, followed by Ashton Peterson with 2, and Ben Hynek with 1.
Ashton Peterson had 2 steals.
Stanley 9 14 14 14 - 51
Rugby 9 23 9 21 - 62