Pine River Backus’ Champ Howard, Brady Raph and Rian Struss all posted 14 points for the Tigers to lead them to a 66-63 win over the Pillager Huskies Friday, Jan. 3.
“In the first half, we played like we’ve been on vacation for a week and a half,” Coach John Riewer said. “In the second, the kids played outstanding basketball. We were very fortunate to only be down by one at halftime, but after that they played extremely well … It was pretty back-and-forth for the rest of the game, and I give the kids a lot of credit for hanging in there and making plays when they needed to.”
Evan Fenstermaker and Louis Bueckers each added nine for the Tigers.
“(Having a balanced scoring attack) makes it harder for your opponent to prepare for you if all five guys are capable of scoring,” Riewer said.
Pillager’s Spencer Schaefer tallied 25 for the Huskies to lead all scorers, followed by Carson VanVickle who contributed 13.
ADVERTISEMENT
Pillager 35 28 -- 63
Pine River-Backus 34 32 -- 66
PINE RIVER-BACKUS
Champ Howard 14, Louis Bueckers 9, Brady Rap 14, Kyosuke Marcum 6, Evan Fenstermaker 9, Rian Struss 14. FT 12-23 (52%). Overall: 6-3.
PILLAGER
Judah Beard 7, Carson VanVickle 13, Ty Swenson 5, Griffin Decker 2, Spencer Schaefer 25, Cole Hiltner 2, AJ Gratke 9. FT 12-22 (55%). Overall: 3-4.
ADVERTISEMENT
