'Streaks fall in 7A quarterfinals

Watching his team show up in the big moment and taking it to the Warriors in the opening minutes, Chisholm head coach Nick Milani said it was the type of play he knew his squad had in them all year.

“That’s something we see at practice,” Milani said after the loss. “We tell our guys that when we play like that, we can play with anybody and I sincerely believe that. At times, we struggled to take care of the ball or we lost guys defensively, but it’s clear we can play against great teams like that. It came together for us today which was a good time for it.”

Getting blown out by the Warriors back at the beginning of February in a game where they gave up 95 points, the ‘Streaks knew they’d have to come out with a better defensive effort if they wanted to stand a chance in Saturday’s 7A quarterfinal. That meant doing all they could to limit powerful shooters like Cale Jackson and Sam Rahier.

The defensive stops were plentiful in the beginning, with Chisholm forcing tough shots that Deer River couldn’t get to fall. On the offensive end, ‘Streaks junior Philip Barnard was finding open shots in the paint, starting with a quick six points to help his team to an 8-2 lead.

The Warriors started chipping away at the lead with Rhett Mundt hitting two free throws and Ethan Williams getting an open bucket in transition. Chisholm’s Ethan Lauzen added a free throw but Deer River’s transition game cut the deficit to one with Jackson scoring on a breakaway.

Barnard went toe-to-toe early with the Warriors threats, hitting a jumper and then knocking down a mid-range shot to make it a 13-10 game in favor of Chisholm. Mundt scored in the paint for Deer River but Lauzen hit a contested layup while being fouled on the next trip, adding the free throw to put his squad up four.

Chisholm surrendered their lead for the first time all game nearly 12 minutes in with Caiden Schjenken scoring on a putback, Kayden Gotchie picking up a steal and converting on the other end all before Schjenken hit the first Warriors three of day, 19-16 Deer River.

As quickly as the Bluestreaks fell behind, they found a way to turn things around with Sean Fleming going off for five straight points, scoring in the lane before knocking down a three of his own, 21-19.

The lead changed hands numerous times in the closing minutes of the first half with Mundt, Rahier and Jackson all scoring for the Warriors. For Chisholm, Lauzen took over the end of the first half, scoring eight of his team’s last 11 points before the break.

At the half, the two teams were tied at 33. Lauzen and Barnard both tallied a dozen for Chisholm.

Seeing his team keep the Warriors in check for large stretches of the first half, Milani said it was a much improved defensive effort from his squad compared to the first time the two teams met.

“We just knew we had to find their shooters more effectively than we did last time. I thought we let Cale [Jackson] get open too much last time and Sam [Rahier] got some big shots also. I think we did a better job on that today.”

Going point for point with the section’s top seed 18 minutes in, Milani said his squad benefited from their narrow one-point win over South Ridge just two days prior in their playoff opener.

“We had a tough one on Thursday night. The atmosphere in our gym was really loud so I think it was good for us to get a game like that under our belt, a close one that showed we could play with some pressure. I thought our guys fed on that a little bit. We had a good crowd here and our guys knew that. We were feeding off that at times and it helped us step up.”

While Deer River’s sharpshooting wasn’t as prominent in the first half, they knew finding the open threes were going to be make or break for them in the second. Nine of the Warriors’ 12 three-pointers fell in the second half, turning the game into an arms race that Chisholm had to keep up with.

Jackson started the half with a three but Fleming responded on the other end for the ‘Streaks to keep things tied. July Abernathy then rattled off five straight for Chisholm to put his team on top but Deer River knotted things up with a three from Rahier and two free throws from Schjenken.

Schjenken kept the long bombs coming, knocking down a corner three to put the Warriors back on top. Deer River extended the lead this time with Jackson hitting two more threes. Chisholm grabbed a transition bucket from Barnard but Jackson, Williams and Rahier all knocked down three-pointers in quick succession to make it an 11 point game, 56-45.

The ‘Streaks had to respond with long range makes of their own and did so for a time. Fleming knocked down another three before Rahier answered with one of his own. Trent Forsline and Abernathy then hit back-to-back threes for Chisholm with Abernathy then scoring again on a drive to the hoop to cut the deficit to three, 59-56.

Seeing the two teams exchange long-range bombs in the second half, Milani said he had no problem with it on the offensive side of things.

“Any time we’re open, we’ve got guys that I know can shoot the ball really well. I was fine with that. On the defensive side, we just had to do a better job to stop them from finding all of those threes.”

Deer River grabbed a bucket in the paint from Mundt and with 5:30 left to play, decided they would slow the game down with a five-point lead. Having just one foul to their name, Chisholm was forced to foul to enter into the bonus before the Warriors drained every second off the clock.

Chisholm kept things within five with about two minutes to play, but the Warriors made their late free throws, going 11-12 in the closing stretch. The Bluestreaks, on the other hand, couldn’t get their late shots to fall as they saw their season come to an end 76-63.

“I told [Deer River coach David] Olson before the game that free throws are what win or lose playoff games,” Milani said. “Credit to them for hitting their free throws when they had to. We had some shots that didn’t fall for us in that stretch so credit to Deer River for hitting theirs.”

Barnard led all scorers in the season-ending loss with 16 points. Abernathy and Lauzen had 15. Fleming finished with 11.

Seeing his first year as head coach of the Chisholm boys’ basketball team come to an end, Milani had only praise for his team and the support surrounding them through one season.

“This is a heck of a group of guys. I had this group of seniors when they were in eighth grade and I was coaching junior high. It was really cool to see these guys grow up together and for myself to see it. The community in Chisholm, they really rally around basketball. I think everybody knows what Chisholm basketball means to this school and this town. I couldn’t be luckier to be a head coach in Chisholm.”

CHS 33 30—63

DR 33 43—76

Chisholm: Ethan Lauzen 15, Trent Forsline 2, July Abernathy 15, Sean Fleming 11, Charlie Thompson 2, Philip Barnard 16, Shane Zancauske 2; Three pointers: Lauzen 1, Abernathy 2, Fleming 3; Free throws: 7-10; Total fouls: 20; Fouled out: Forsline.

Deer River: Cale Jackson 29, Caiden Schjenken 17, Ethan Williams 10, Kayden Gotchie 2, Rhett Mundt 10, Sam Rahier 13; Three pointers: Jackson 4, Schjenken 3, Williams 1, Rahier 4; Free throws: 18-22; Total fouls: 12; Fouled out: none.