NEVIS – After posting two dominant wins against Walker-Hackensack-Akeley during the regular season, the Nevis boys basketball team was the heavy favorite to roll to another easy win when these two teams met in the Section 5A West playoffs.
The No. 1-seeded Tigers, who defeated W-H-A by scores of 91-42 and 93-24 during the regular season, lived up to those expectations by coasting into the next round with a 93-39 victory at the Tiger Arena on Thursday, March 9.
W-H-A, the No. 9 seed that defeated No. 8 Verndale 60-53 in the first round of the tournament, stayed within 10-6 before Nevis went on a 45-13 run to claim a 55-22 halftime lead in cruising to the win. The Tigers hit 13 3-pointers in the first half.
Three-pointers by Spencer Lindow and Joe Houchin gave Nevis a 10-4 lead with 14:21 to play in the first half. The Tigers used back-to-back 3-pointers by Christian Moe and a 3-pointer by Devan Lindow to make it 19-8 at the 12:36 mark. A 3-pointer by Eli Lewis, layups by Alex Lester and Austin Ahrendt, and 3-pointers by Moe and Devan Lindow sparked a 15-0 run as Nevis led 34-10 with 8:46 to play in the first half.
Spencer Lindow connected on three straight 3-pointers as the Tigers led 43-17 at the 6:08 mark before a jumper by Houchin, a 3-pointer by JohnPaul Benson, a layup off a steal by Devan Lindow, a putback by Lester and a 3-pointer by Moe ignited a 12-0 run that pushed the lead to 55-19 with 2:02 to play in the first half.
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Lester scored off a rebound and made a layup, Benson hit a 3-pointer, and Devan Lindow converted a layup as the Tigers led 67-30 with 13:34 to play. A layup by Lewis and a jumper by Moe made it 73-31 at the 10:48 mark. Nevis went on an 18-0 run as 3-pointers by Moe, Lealan Norby and Noah Kramer along with jumpers by Spencer Lindow and Isaac Bessler, a basket off a rebound by Lewis, and a layup by AJ Bessler extended the advantage to 91-36 with 1:35 to go.
Thirteen different players – led by Moe’s five 3-pointers and 17 points, Lester’s 15 points, Spencer Lindow’s four 3-pointers and 14 points, and Devan Lindow’s 10 points – scored to pace the Tigers, who made 17 3-pointers in the game and received 42 points from the bench. The win lifted Nevis’ record to 21-6.
Niko Morrow scored 13 points for the Wolves, who ended the season with a 10-18 record.
In the other Section 5A West openers, No. 6 Upsala defeated No. 11 Laporte 73-51 and No. 7 Bertha-Hewitt eliminated No. 10 Sebeka 66-45. In the other West quarterfinal games, No. 2 Pine River-Backus defeated Bertha-Hewitt 77-42, No. 3 Browerville-Eagle Valley eliminated Laporte 53-30 and No. 4 Swanville ousted No. 5 Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 69-50.
Nevis will play Swanville in the 5A West semifinals at Wadena on Monday (March 13) at 6 p.m. That game was postponed because of the weather on Saturday, March 11. The winner of that game returns to Wadena to play either PR-B or B-EV for the 5A West championship on Wednesday (March 15) with a 1 p.m. tip-off.
WALKER-HACKENSACK-AKELEY: Bielow 2 0-0 4, Brock 2 0-0 5, Oelschlager 4 0-0 9, Morrow 5 0-0 13, Tande 2 2-3 6, Pederson 1 0-0 2. Totals: 16 (FG), 2 for 3 (FT).
NEVIS: Ahrendt 1 5-6 7, D. Lindow 4 0-0 10, Houchin 2 0-0 5, S. Lindow 5 0-0 14, Lester 4 7-8 15, Kramer 1 0-0 3, I. Bessler 1 0-0 2, Lewis 3 0-1 7, Moe 6 0-0 17, E. Lindow 0 0-0 0, Norby 1 0-0 3, Benson 2 0-0 6, Buckholtz 0 0-0 0, Klimek 0 2-2 2, AJ Bessler 1 0-0 2. Totals: 31 (FG), 14 for 17 (FT).
Halftime: Nevis 55, W-H-A 22. Three-pointers: Brock 1, Oelschlager 1, Morrow 3, D. Lindow 2, Houchin 1, S. Lindow 4, Kramer 1, Lewis 1, Moe 5, Norby 1, Benson 2. Team fouls: W-H-A 11, Nevis 6.
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