Wolverines hold off late rally by Strasburg-Zeeland

Herreid-Selby Area saw a 23-point cushion dwindle down to single digits, but the Wolverines used a 10-2 run late in the game to secure a 74-62 victory over Strasburg-Zeeland, North Dakota, Jan. 21, in Herreid. It was the fourth straight win for H-SA, which improved to 7-4 on the season, while S-Z fell to 1-11 on the year.

H-SA never trailed in the game, and the Wolverines jumped out to an 11-4 advantage less than three minutes after the jump. The Wolverines would maintain at least a two-possession advantage the rest of the way, and Mason Vetter’s three-pointer at the first quarter buzzer extended the lead to 20-11.

A three-pointer by Gavin Hannan pushed the lead to 25-14 with about 6:40 left in the first half, and the Wolverines would hold a double-digit advantage the rest of the half. A field goal by Hunter Friend and a free throw by Cole Zabel extended the lead to 31-16 midway through the second quarter, and H-SA went on a 14-3 run over the final three and a half minutes of the frame, taking a 45-22 cushion to the intermission after Tray Hettick canned a three-pointer at the horn.

H-SA shot very well in the first half, shooting over 50% from both the field (16 of 31) and the line (8 of 14). S-Z, however, hit on just a third (9 of 27) of its field goal attempts over the first two quarters, while turning the ball over 13 times in the half. Hettick scored 14 points to lead all scorers in the half, and Brenden Begeman added 10 points for the Wolverines. Dominic Meier paced S-Z’s first-half attack with eight points, which all came during the second period.

S-Z’s offense came to life in the second half, prompting a rally by the Clippers that would get them back into the game. H-SA looked to be in cruise control with its seemingly comfortable lead, and the Wolverines still held a 55-32 advantage after Trevor Gill put in a field goal with four and half minutes left in the third quarter. The Clippers gained a little life with an 8-2 spurt, and Xavier Volk’s field goal at the 1:50 mark cut the lead to 57-40, but S-Z could draw no closer than that for the time being, even though H-SA went scoreless for over three minutes before Wayde Grage hit two of three free throws after being fouled on a three-point attempt with less than a second left in the quarter.

Begeman was whistled for his fourth foul late in the third quarter, and he would go to the bench, where he would remain for a good part of the fourth period, but the Wolverines entered the final quarter with a 59-40 advantage. However, S-Z would take a large bite out of that deficit in the early moments of the period, as H-SA would hit just one field goal over the first 5:50 of the frame. S-Z scored the first seven points of the period, and Delson Droog’s putback cut the lead to 59-47 with just over five minutes left.

Hettick would finally get H-SA on the board with a three-pointer with about 4:45 left, but the Wolverines went scoreless over two and a half minutes after that, while S-Z scored eight unanswered points to close the gap to single digits. Back-to-back three-pointers by Josh Hulm and Meier cut the lead to 62-53, and after H-SA misfired on a field goal attempt on the other end, Droog put back an offensive board to cap a 15-3 run by the Clippers that cut the deficit to 62-55 with 2:40 remaining.

After S-Z missed out on a chance to cut further into the lead, Begeman put in a short-range field goal for H-SA, and after Meier answered with a field goal on the other end, Hettick hit a free throw at the 1:45 mark to give H-SA a 65-57 lead. Another misfire by S-Z led to a three-point play by Friend that pushed the margin back up to double digits (68-57) with 1:22 left.Afield goal by Begeman and a pair of free throws by Hettick capped an 8-0 run by the Wolverines that put the game out of reach (72-57) with just 19 seconds left.

H-SA cooled off a bit in the second half, but the Wolverines still shot 48% (26 of 54) from the field, and hit 16 of 28 (57%) free throws in the game. S-Z shot over 50% (17 of 33) from the floor in the second half and finished 26 of 60 (43%) from the field for the game, but the Clippers attempted just eight freethrows the entire game, sinking five of them.

Hettick hit three 3-pointers and finished with game-highs in points (22), assists (10) and rebounds, while Begeman netted 16 points, two assists and two steals, and Gill (6 rebounds, 2 steals, 2 assists) and Hannan (two 3-pointers, 6 assists) tallied 11 and 10 points, respectively, for H-SA. Friend scored nine points and grabbed six rebounds for the Wolverines.

Meier pulled down four rebounds and paced S-Z with 15 points, while Droog netted 13 points and five rebounds, and Feist added 11 points, seven rebounds and three assists. Brock Tougas scored 10 points while dishing out five assists and collecting three steals, Hulm had five points, four rebounds and two assists, and Sawyer Haak (4 rebounds) and Brandon Eberle (3 rebounds) chipped in three points apiece for the Clippers.

Scoring Summary

Stras.-Zeel. 11 11 18 22 62
Herreid-SA 20 25 14 15 74

Team Stats

S-Z H-SA
Field Goals 26-60 26-54
(43%) (48%)
Free Throws 5-8 16-28
(63%) (57%)

Rebounds 39 33
Turnovers 17 11
Team Fouls 24 13

Individual Scoring

Strasburg-Zeeland: Dominic Meier 15, Delson Droog 13, Devin Feist 11, Brock Tougas 10, Josh Hulm 5, Sawyer Haak 3, Brandon Eberle 3, Xavier Volk 2.

Herreid-SA: Tray Hettick 22, Brenden Begeman 16, Trevor Gill 11, Gavin Hannan 10, Hunter Friend 9, Mason Vetter 3, Wayde Grage 2, Cole Zabel 1.

3-Pointers: S-Z (5-16): Meier 2, Droog 1, Hulm 1, Eberle 1, H-SA (6-19): Hettich 3, Hannan 2, Vetter 1. Fouled Out: None.