Boys' basketball: Brandon-Evansville third at Kimball

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The Brandon-Evansville boys came back from a loss in the opening round at the Kimball Tournament to take third place with a win on Saturday.

The Chargers saw an 11-point lead at the break get shaved to four right after the half before some strong defense led to a 63-45 win over Spectrum. Brandon-Evansville was also within striking distance in the opener two days earlier, but Watertown-Mayer outscored the Chargers 42-20 after the break in a 76-47 loss to the Royals (3-4).

The Chargers were able to open things up against Spectrum by forcing 21 turnovers and limiting the Sting to 35 percent shooting (18-51). They gave the ball away just seven times themselves and hit 11-of-27 threes to pick up their third win of the season.

“We played well for a while, then not so well, and then played really well defensively down the stretch,” head coach John Holsten said. “We took care of the ball better than we have in a while. We were able to turn them over with decent defense. Billie Juul and Blake Satterlie were outstanding defensively down the stretch. Their energy really got us going.”

The Chargers got another big game from John Haseman as he finished with 26 points and 14 rebounds. He totaled 47 points and 22 rebounds in the two games to earn all-tournament team honors.

Haseman has been able to put up numbers like that all season, and on Saturday, it was Pat Schaffer who provided a second scoring punch for the Chargers. The senior guard had a career-high 17 points to go along with two rebounds, five steals and six assists.

“He is really playing good basketball,” Holsten said of Schaffer. “I’m happy for him. He’s worked hard at this. He’s developing as a leader on the court and keeping his teammates involved.”

Schaffer had six points and Blake Satterlie added 11 to go with Haseman’s 21, but it wasn’t near enough against a good Watertown-Mayer team in the opener. The Royals opened things up after halftime behind seven three pointers. They hit 12 threes in the game as Jacob Wandersee knocked in seven of those on his way to 23 points.

“They just really took it to us in the second half,” Holsten said. “They made a bunch of threes and we were slow getting out to covering their perimeter shooters.”

The Chargers also had a tough time getting a lot of looks at the basket. They shot 45 percent but took just 33 shots, compared to a 31-of-60 night for the Royals. Brandon-Evansville made it to the free throw line a lot more, where it went 14-of-19 from the stripe.

“They really clamped down on us with their defense in the second half,” Holsten said. “They had really good man-to-man defense. It was difficult for us to do anything. They’re an athletic bunch, well coached and did the things they needed to do to win.”

The Royals went on to take second place at the tournament as Kimball held serve on its home court by beating them 68-52 in the championship.

The Chargers moved to 3-5 overall with the split at the tournament. They will have off until January 3 before welcoming Rothsay to Evansville for a Little Eight Conference game.

GAME STATISTICS

BRANDON-EVANSVILLE 37 26 – 63

SPECTRUM 26 19 – 45

TOTALS – B-E – FG – 21-56; Three-point FG – 11-27; Rebounds – 26; Free throws – 10-16; Turnovers – 7; Spectrum – FG – 18-51; Free throws – 6-6; Rebounds – 29; Turnovers – 21

B-E – Satterlie – 6 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist; Schaffer – 17 points, 2 rebounds, 5 steals, 6 assists; Juul – 7 points, 2 rebounds, 2 steals, 2 assists; Mitch Anderson – 6 points, 3 rebounds, 1 steal, 2 assists; Haseman – 26 points, 14 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 assists; Jon Thoennes – 2 rebounds, 1 assist; James Huisman – 1 point, 2 rebounds, 2 assists

WATERTOWN-MAYER 34 42 – 76

BRANDON-EVANSVILLE 27 20 – 47

TOTALS – B-E – FG – 15-33; Free throws – 14-19; Rebounds – 17; Turnovers – 14; W-M – FG – 31-60; Free throws – 2-5; Three-point FG – 12-25; Rebounds – 32; Turnovers – 9

B-E – Satterlie – 11 points, 3 rebounds; Schaffer – 6 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals; Juul – 2 points, 1 rebound; Tyson Thorstad – 1 steal; Haseman – 21 points, 8 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 assist; Brandon Christianson – 1 point; James Huisman – 6 points, 2 rebounds

Tags: brandon evansville sports, sports, chargers, boys, basketball