The Menahga boys basketball team never trailed in a season-opening win at Frazee on Saturday, Dec. 7.
Menahga jumped out to a 9-2 lead, led 37-29 at the half, increased that advantage to 58-40 before holding on for a 68-64 victory in this game between Section 8AA opponents.
A layup off a steal and a 3-pointer by Brock Berttunen, a layup by Tristan Aho and a jumper by Wade Berttunen gave Menahga a quick 9-2 advantage. A basket off a rebound by Devan Leritz, a jumper by Victor Aho and a three-point play by Charlie Hodge gave the Braves an 18-10 advantage before a layup and a 3-pointer by Tristan Aho, a basket off a rebound by Brock Berttunen, a layup off a steal and a jumper by Hodge, and a putback by Leritz gave the Braves a 37-29 lead at the half.
The Braves used 3-pointers by Wade Berttunen and Andreas Aho, two layups by Brock Berttunen, layups by Tristan Aho and Jonah Howard, and a three-point play by Tristan Aho to push the lead to 58-40.
Frazee rallied behind 3-pointers by Jack Courneya, George Flynn and Broden Fleisher to close the gap to 62-58 before jumpers by Hodge and Jared Tolkkinen and a layup by Tristan Aho helped seal the win.
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Tristan Aho’s 25 points, 11 rebounds and three assists led the Braves. Hodge added 13 points and five steals while Brock Berttunen (10) and Victor Aho (9) combined for 19 rebounds.
Courneya scored 17 points while Fleisher (16 points, 11 rebounds) and Reid Eckert (15 points, 10 rebounds) had double-doubles for the Hornets, who fell to 1-1 in section games and 2-1 overall.
Both teams struggled on long-range jumpers as Menahga made only 4 of 21 3-pointers while Frazee connected only 6 of 32 attempts from behind the arc.
MENAHGA: Tolkkinen 1 0-2 2, Hodge 6 0-0 13, T. Aho 8 8-11 25, A. Aho 1 0-0 3, Howard 1 0-1 2, W. Berttunen 2 4-7 9, V. Aho 1 1-2 3, Treinen 0 0-0 0, Heegard 0 2-2 2, Leritz 2 0-0 4, B. Berttunen 3 0-3 6. Totals: 25 for 68 (FG), 15 for 28 (FT).
FRAZEE: Ja. Courneya 3 9-11 17, Ju. Courneya 1 0-0 3, Flynn 2 2-2 7, Selly 1 2-2 4, B. Fleisher 5 4-9 16, Winn 1 0-0 2, Eckert 7 1-2 15. Totals: 20 for 70 (FG), 18 for 26 (FT).
Halftime: Menahga 37, Frazee 29. Three-pointers: Ja. Courneya 2, Ju. Courneya 1, Flynn 1, B. Fleisher 2, Hodge 1, T. Aho 1, A. Aho 1, W. Berttunen 1. Team fouls: Menahga 23, Frazee 22. Fouled out: T. Aho, Hodge, Ja. Courneya, Eckert. Rebounds: Menahga 53 (T. Aho 11, B. Berttunen 10, V. Aho 9, Hodge 6, Leritz 6, Howard 5, Tolkkinen 3, W. Berttunen 2, Heegard 1). Assists: Menahga 6 (T. Aho 3, W. Berttunen 2, Hodge 1). Steals: Menahga 14 (Hodge 5, B. Berttunen 3, A. Aho 3, Tolkkinen 1, W. Berttunen 1. T. Aho 1). Blocked shots: Menahga 2 (B. Berttunen 1, W. Berttunen 1). Turnovers: Menahga 19, Frazee 18.
