Blue Jays Boys Season Ends At Regions
Stanley’s varsity boys’ basketball team was in region tournament action on Monday, Mar. 10 when they faced Turtle Mountain, a team that took them to overtime in the regular season. Turtle Mountain came out hot in the first quarter, holding a twelve point lead. The Blue Jays battled back in the next two quarters, holding a four point lead at the end of the third quarter, but Turtle Mountain found their stride again in the fourth quarter to claim the 65 to 61 victory.
Head coach Kory Anderson said, “It was a tough final game of the season. As a coaching staff we knew it was going to be a hard-fought game as both teams are so different. It would be their speed and shooting versus our physicality and points in the paint. We came up just short, but we are proud of how the boys fought all season. This team had a lot of great stories that I won’t forget. I was able to observe some really good character traits that will lead these young men into being great future leaders of our community.
Coming into the season, we knew we were going to have to be good at winning close games and for the most part we did that. The boys seemed to get better in the third and fourth quarters all season. Credit to them for working so hard to get into and staying in good shape. I can’t say enough about the seniors and what they have done for the program. It was a fun team to coach as we felt each game we really had to establish a different game plan, game to game, and the boys stepped up in practice as they brought a lot of energy every day. Our senior leaders Kade and Drake made it a point early in the season to show up 20 to 30 minutes early for practice leading by example for the younger players to follow.”
As the tournament wrapped up on Thursday, Mar. 13, the Blue Jays had three players named to the All Region Team: Ben Hynek, Bennett Larson and Drake Schlosser. Drake Schlosser was also named the Region Senior Athlete of the Year.
As a team, Stanley made 21 of their 44 two point attempts and 2 of their 17 three point attempts. They converted 13 of their 20 free throw attempts. Turtle Mountain made 17 of their 33 two point, 7 of their 16 three point, and 10 of their 15 free throw attempts.
The Blue Jays had 19 offensive and 22 defensive rebounds. They had 14 assists, 4 steals and 5 blocks. They committed 10 turnovers. Turtle Mountain had 5 offensive and 19 defensive rebounds, 12 assists, 6 steals, 6 blocks and committed 8 turnovers.
Bennett Larson led the team with 26 points, followed by Drake Schlosser with 15, Ben Hynek with 14, and Austin Kanenwisher with 6.
Ben Hynek had 12 rebounds, followed by Bennett Larson with 10, Drake Schlosser with 6, Austin Kanenwisher with 5, and Jevon Johnson and Kade Snyder with 3 each.
Drake Schlosser had 4 assists, followed by Austin Kanenwisher and Bennett Larson with 3 each, Jevon Johnson with 2, and Ben Hynek and Kade Snyder with 1 each.
Drake Schlosser, Jevon Johnson, Kade Snyder and Bennett Larson each had 1 steal.
Ben Hynek had 3 blocks, followed by Drake Schlosser and Bennett Larson with 1 each.
Stanley 7 18 20 16 - 61
Turtle Mountain 19 13 9 24 - 65