Huskies throttle Bears, 87-28
Throughout the game, BVNW dominated East on both sides of the court. Senior forward Parker Braun finished with a career-high 26 points, along with 10 rebounds, in the win.
January 31, 2018
On the first play of the game, senior guard Sam Ward threw a lob from the top of the key to his fellow senior forward Parker Braun who was lurking by the baseline. Braun was able to use his 6-foot-9 frame to slam down a dunk which was the first of many for the Huskies. The Huskies were able to build upon their lead as they cruised to an 87-28 victory in Tuesday’s night matchup against the East High School Bears.
This alley-oop was just the start for the Braun and Ward duo.
Throughout the game, East played a zone defense which BVNW was able to eat up. The Bears had trouble guarding Braun as his size was too much for the zone to handle. In addition, East’s defense allowed for Ward to get open 3-pointers in the first half. The senior guard was able to convert on four 3-pointers in the first half.
With Braun’s interior dominance and Ward’s hot hand, both seniors went into the half with 20 points each.
According to Fritz, Braun had college coaches in attendance, so Fritz wanted to highlight Braun’s abilities.
“He had a couple of college coaches here tonight, so we wanted to make sure he was a focal point of what we were doing tonight,” Fritz said.
While Braun and Ward stole the show offensively in the first half, the Huskies defense helped create easy buckets on the other end. East’s offense continually turned the ball over which led to easy points in transition for BVNW.
Everything seemed to be clicking as the Huskies went into the half with a 60-15 lead over the Bears. With such a large lead, the rest of the game was played with a running clock.
BVNW opened up the third quarter right where they left off. With 3:15 remaining in the third quarter, the Huskies subbed out their five starters. Although they played in only three quarters, Braun finished with a career-high 26 points and 10 rebounds which was good for a double-double, and Ward added 20 points.
The rest of the game would feature BVNW players who have played either limited minutes or have never played varsity basketball. One senior, forward Andrew Lind, was able to enter the game and score the first points of his varsity career. Lind entered the game late in the second quarter and was able to score off of a post hook. Lind played more minutes in the second half which gave him time to score four more points. With six points, Lind said he has more confidence.
“Now when I play I get in the game, I’m not afraid to shoot,” Lind said, “so, first two points, I’m in the Northwest history books and happy to get six points.”
In total, 15 Huskies saw the court. Though the clock was running and the Huskies played a lot of subs, BVNW throttled East, 87-28. After playing in close games against ranked opponents, Braun said it was nice being able to get an easier win.
“We’ve played a lot of tough games recently.” Braun said. “I think this was one we kind of needed as a team.
The Huskies improve to 9-4 on the season and will travel on the road to face Blue Valley Southwest on Friday, Feb. 2 at 7:30 p.m.
