Overpowered in second half

Ryan Olmscheid dribbling on the wing.

Jacob Tensen out on the right wing looking for a teammate to pass to.

The Pierz Pioneers overpowered the B-B-E Jaguars boys' basketball team in the second half on their way to a 74-52 road win tonight. The Pioneers were up 25-24 at halftime. The Jaguars fell behind 18-12 midway into the first half before pulling in front 20-19 with three minutes left on a 15-footer by Austin Trustheim.

The game was close all through the first half and in the opening minutes of the second half. Pierz was relatively cold on the outside up until there was about 12 minutes left in the game.

With 13:25 left in the game, Jordan Wosmek canned a three-pointer, and soon after that Trustheim hit a rebound shot to make it Pierz 37, B-B-E 33. The Pioneers then blistered the nets on the three-point line and blew it open. With 9:36 to go, they were up 57-37.

Fourteen points was the closest the Jaguars would get from that point on. Although they played between eight and nine players, depth became an issue in the second half. The Pioneers went a strong 10 deep.

Here's a short video from the second half:

Next is Holdingford in another home game on Thursday. The Huskers (0-4) played a relatively solid game against seventh-ranked and undefeated Eden Valley-Watkins tonight. The Eagles won 50-27 on their home floor to move to 7-0 overall. EV-W is having their best season since 2006-2007 when they finished 17-7 overall after an 8-1 start.

That's all for tonight. Tomorrow is a very, very busy day: Santa Claus in Elrosa, Brooten and Sunburg. A big Christmas sale at the Belgrade Hardware Hank store along with a book signing event at Jana Mae's/Mudslingers Café in Brooten. A junior high basketball tournament in Holdingford (won't make that). The engine block won't cool off during the day.

Central Minnesota Conference boys' basketball scores on Dec. 12:
Kimball Area 68, Rockford Area 53
Maple Lake 78, Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 63
#7 Eden Valley-Watkins 50, Holdingford 27

Area boys' basketball scores on Dec. 12:
Melrose Area 67, Sauk Centre 53 (undefeated Dutchmen led 23-22 after getting a shot off in the final seconds before halftime; the score was 12-12 with seven minutes to go in the first half)
Albany 69, Annandale 42
St. Cloud Apollo 63, Willmar 38
Litchfield 73, Paynesville Area 52
Dawson-Boyd 78, Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 41
West Central Area 60, Royalton 32
Swanville 62, Osakis 41
Upsala 79, St. John's Prep 59
Henning 52, Ashby 50 OT
Battle Lake 75, Parkers Prairie 35