Gator Boys Look to Make Every Possession Count

Gator boys look to make every possession count By: Ryan Bergeron

The Gators boys basketball program graduated some height and senior leadership from last year’s team that finished with an 11-16 record. Having less length this season, this year’s team will have to rely on something that goes beyond height.

“We went from last year to being relatively big and this might be perhaps the smallest team we’ve ever had and we’ve had some small teams, but we’re not all the long right now. So, being scrappy and playing with a lot of heart, making every possession count (will be important),” Coach Christian said, entering his fourteenth year as the Gators’ Head Boys Basketball Coach.

Last year’s Gator team had six seniors: Ben Lieberg and Colton Penas, the Gators’ two tallest players at 6’6 and 6’5 respectively at the time, Robby Davy, Chase Anderson, Trever Robinson, and Tyler Becker.

“They were a really, really fun group to coach. It’s one of those groups that didn’t really see the varsity floor until they were seniors,” Coach Christian said. “(I) definitely wish we would have had them back for one more year. They were starting to play really decent basketball, but (they) moved on to bigger and maybe better things.”

Much like last year’s group of seniors, this year’s senior group overall is another that hasn’t seen the varsity floor much, outside a couple players. This year’s seniors include: Skyler Forst, Jordan Watson, Austin Aune, Conner Graff, Jared Davy, and Michael Olson. For Coach Christian, he believes it will be another enjoyable group of seniors to coach, one waiting to see substantial varsity minutes.

Forst, standing at 5’11, returns to this year’s team as a starter from last year, and Coach Christian hopes he starts again this year. Currently, he estimated that Forst is around 600 or 700 points for this career.

Watson, at 5’10, returns after also seeing substantial playing time last season. Some other seniors to push for varsity time include 6’0 Aune, an individual having had a good offseason, Coach Christian said, and 6’2 Conner Graff.

The Gators also have several underclassmen pushing for varsity time, in 5’10 junior Brandon Sorenson, junior Shaun Waage, the team’s tallest player at 6’3, 5’6 sophomore Jake Taggart, and 5’10 sophomore Dylan Heggedal. Other underclassmen players on the varsity roster include: 6’2 junior Yannik Kroeller Fernandez and 5’9 junior Dillon Nieman. Seniors Davy, standing at 6’1 and Olson, standing at 5’10, are also listed on the varsity roster. Overall, the Gators have 35 players participating in seventh to twelfth grade, a number Coach Christian considered a little low, but “pretty average.” Outside Christian, other coaches currently on staff include: Jordan Creviston (junior varsity coach), Jakob Heggedal (C-team coach), Joel Brichacek (eighth grade coach), and a new coach at the seventh grade level, not yet made official.

With the players he has going into this season, Coach Christian believes this year’s team will have better shooting, but due to the team lacking as much length, they will have to adjust their play accordingly.

So what style of play will people see from the Gators this season? Last year’s team wanted to play more up-tempo, but had to scale this style back some. Regardless of this season’s team’s smaller size, Coach Christian doesn’t want his team to get into a “run and gun” style of play, but that doesn’t mean he wants it to slow the game down either, instead playing to what the game gives them.

“We want to look for our chances to run, but if we get into the half court, just to be patient and take good shots,” Coach Christian said. “I could probably see us taking a few more three-pointers this year and, if we’re taking them, we better be making them and not basing our whole game around that. But, we’re definitely going to have to shoot well from outside.”

They also will need to rely on penetration and the ability to kick the ball outside, but the team’s small guys will still have to post up too, Coach Christian added.

As with any team he coaches, he defines a successful season as one where the players improve throughout, grow as a team, and compete in every game.

“Who knows how much talent we have compared to the rest of the teams, but if we go out there and play with a lot of heart, a lot of intensity then I consider that a success,” Coach Christian said.

Still playing as a Section 8AA team, the Gators open the season on December 6, versus defending Section 8A champion Red Lake at Northland Community and Technical College in Thief River Falls.

“(It’s) definitely a challenging game right out of the gate,” Coach Christian said, “but one we’re looking forward to.”

Copyright of The Tribune (Greenbush, Minn.)

CHARGERS CRUSH GATORS

After suffering a tough loss in the first round of the NCTC Holiday Tournament the BGMR Gators were hoping to get on track when they squared off against the Grygla- Goodridge Chargers. The experienced Charger team however used physical play and took advantage of poor Gator defensive play routing the Gators 88-60. The Chargers were a model of consistency as they scored 44 points in both halves. Meanwhile the Gators defensive woes from the first night of play continued into the second night as the Gators allowed the Chargers to shoot 49% from the field. Grygla- Goodridge also out rebounded the Gators by a 49-27 margin. Offensively the Gators did have some bright spots. Three Gators landed three people in double figures as Brandon Sorenson led the way with 11 points. Skyler Forst and Austin Aune each managed to dump in 10 points. Connor Graff just missed double digits with 9 points. Offensively the Chargers were led by Dylan Walker who had 17 points and 12 rebounds. Blaine Kriel poured in 17, Ben Groven scored 12 and Tyler Stinar 10. With the win the Gators moved into the 7th and 8th place game where they would play Clearbrook-Gonvick. The Gators would have a relatively quick turnaround as they would have a noon start time.

GATOR BOYS PICK UP FIRST WIN OF YEAR

After getting blown out in the first two games of the NCTC Holiday Tournament the BGMR Gators got off to quick start and cruised to a 82-50 victory over the Clearbrook-Gonvick Bears. Using a full court press to start the game the Gators were able to cause several Bear turnovers and took advantage of the Bear turnovers as the Gators raced to a 47-29 halftime lead. The Gator defensive effort would pick up even more in the second half as the Gators limited the Bears to 21 points in the second half and 27% shooting for the game. Offensively the Gators were led by Connor Graff who scored a career high 20 points. Skyler Forst poured in 19 and Jake Taggart also had a career high with 11 points. The Gators shot 43% from the field which included going 5 for 8 from behind the 3 point line. With the win the Gators brought home 7th place. BGMR will now have a few days of practice and will open up home play on Thursday when the Red Lake County Rebels come to the Swamp. The Rebels are a young team led by veteran Hall of Fame coach Steve Philion. BGMR will then host their big rivals from Roseau on Friday night. It should be a good week of basketball so come on out and support this Gator team. Gators score more than win versus Rebels By: Ryan Bergeron The result of the game between the Gators and Red Lake County Rebels on December 15 was a foregone conclusion, even after the Rebels’ Matt Vettleson scored two points, making the score 51-37 in favor of the Gators. Following the made basket, Rebels Head Coach Steve Philion took a timeout with 38 seconds left in the game, setting up what would prove to be a life-changing moment for one Gator player in his team’s 53-37 home victory. Gator senior Michael Olson would start the game and reenter it late in the second half. Following the timeout, Olson would shoot the ball just outside the lane on the section closest to the basket. He would miss, but grab the offensive rebound and put up the same shot. This time the ball went in with 25 seconds left, giving Olson his first ever varsity points and bringing what possibly may have been the loudest cheers of the night from the Gator faithful. After the final buzzer rang, Olson shook hands with the opposing head coach. “Coach Philion’s a hall of fame coach and that kind of shows why he is. He’s just a class act,” Gator Head Coach Kent Christian said. “It probably changed that kid’s life, so again hats off to Coach Philion for doing that for us.” Before this moment, the Gators built a 32-14 halftime lead after getting scoring contributions from eight different players, led by senior Austin Aune, scoring all nine of his points in that first half. “He can score off the dribble, which he did early,” Coach Christian said. “He got a couple fouls, so we had to rest him a little bit, but Austin’s a key, especially for us offensively.” Just over one minute into the second half, the Rebels would draw to within 16 points at 32-16 after a Justin Nemec two-pointer. The Gators would then respond, opening its lead to as much as 23 points in the half. In that half, the Gators would go on a 15-7 run, capped by back-to-back Brandon Sorenson three-pointers, the final one giving the Gators a 47-25 lead with 8:44 remaining in the game. Holding the Rebels’ offense to 31.8 percent shooting from the field, the Gator defense gave up 37 points, marking a season-low for any Gator opponent thus far this season. The Gators had four blocks, including two from Connor Graff, and 17 steals, including seven from Skyler Forst. Coach Christian said his defense played better, but still had much room for growth yet. On the offensive side, the Gators shot 32.2 percent from the field. Forst led the way with a balanced game, scoring 11 points, six in the first half and five in the second. No other Gator player hit double figures, but Sorenson also recorded nine points. Leading the Rebels offensively, Nemec scored 10 points, the only player on his team to hit double figures. The Gator boys would have a quick turnaround, hosting the rival Roseau Rams from the Swamp the next day. Copyright of The Tribune (Greenbush, Minn.)

RAMS OUTLAST GATORS

Whenever two rivalries get together a close game is always expected. The BGMR Gators and Roseau Rams did not disappoint as the Rams used a second half surge to leave the Swamp with a 64-61 win. After a slow start the Gators would buckle down on defense and went into halftime with a 27-23 lead. The Gators would build that lead to 7 in the second half but the Rams behind the 3 point shooting of Nels Braaten would take the lead with just under a minute to go. BGMR would miss a couple crucial free throws and the Rams would hold on as Shawn Waage’s half court 3 point shot rimmed out as the buzzer sounded. Several Gators had good offensive nights. BGMR was led in scoring by Skyler Forst who poured in 16 points. Jake Taggart was especially strong with the ball and pumped in 14 points. Austin Aune had 11 points and a team leading 8 rebounds. The Rams landed four people in double figures. Eric Hoffer scored 16, Nate Corbit and Jacob LePard scored 15 each and Nels Braaten finished with 12. The Gators will continue their stretch of 3 games in 5 days as the Gators will travel to Hallock tonight to take on the Kittson County Central Bearcats. The Bearcats are a solid team and Hallock is always a tough place to play. After tonight the Gators will finish their pre-holiday part of their schedule with a game in the Swamp on Thursday versus Clearbrook-Gonvick.

BEARCATS UPEND GATORS The BGMR Gator and Kittson County Central Bearcats boys basketball teams both got off to a slow start in their matchup played in Hallock. As both teams struggled to find any offense in the first half the Bearcats would go into halftime with a 20-14 lead. The second half would see more offense with the Gators tying the game at 36 with just over 3 minutes to go. At this point the Bearcats would take control of the game and would down the Gators 53-45. BGMR struggled with their shooting finishing the night with a 30% shooting percentage. Austin Aune was the only Gator who finished with double digits pouring in 13 points. Shaun Waage was able to pull down a career high 12 rebounds for the Gators. Kittson Central also shot 30% on the night. The Bearcats got 16 points and 15 rebounds from Bryden Swenson and 11 points from Cole Johnson. Although the Gators have lost two in a row the team effort has for the most part been solid. The Gators will need to cut down on their mistakes in order to beat some of the better teams. BGMR will finish out preholiday play when they are back in the Swamp on Thursday. The Clearbrook-Gonvick Bears come to town. BGMR cruised to an easy victory against the Bears earlier in the year but the Gators will have to play well in order to pick up another win against a Bear team that will be looking for revenge. Gator boys sneak by Bears at home By: Ryan Bergeron Trailing 43-45, the Gators’ Dylan Heggedal, coming off the bench, hit a three-pointer form the corner to give the Gators a 46-45 lead with 4:38 remaining in a home game versus the Clearbrook-Gonvick Bears on December 22. The lead wouldn’t last long, as Erik Bergman answered for the Bears with two points to give the Bears the 47-46 lead with 4:20 remaining. Jake Taggart, another player coming off the Gator bench, hit a driving layup to give his team the lead right back at 48-47 with 4:02 remaining. The Gators would never relinquish this lead, making some late stops to hold off the Bears for the 51-48 win. “I liked that we won. We persevered,” Gator Head Coach Kent Christian said. “(There were) some tight situations down the stretch. We didn’t play it like we should of, but we found a way to win.” The Gator bench accounted for 18 points, led by Jake Taggart’s overall team-high 14, including two of four from the three-point line. His first three pointer gave the Gators a 25-24 lead going into halftime and his second gave his team a 35-33 lead with just under 12 minutes left in a game that featured eight ties and 19 lead changes. Coach Christian complimented the play of his bench, coming up big while some players attempt to recuperate from injury. “They did a nice job because we’re a little bit banged up,” Coach Christian said. “(Skyler) Forst’s got a bum ankle right now we got to try to get healed up in the next couple weeks. Connor (Graff), he really gutted one out for us tonight. He’s got something bruised inside and so yeah we needed our bench tonight and they did a nice job.” The last time these two teams met, not even two weeks ago, at the Northland Community and Technical College Holiday Tournament the Gators won, but by a larger margin--82-50. Asked what changed this time around, Christian pointed to the play of both teams. “I think it was just a mindset,” Coach Christian said. “They came in ready to play and we just didn’t have our best game tonight.” Offensively, the Gators shot 27 percent from the field. Brandon Sorenson also hit double figures for the Gators with 12 points, including a three for six performance from three-point land. His second three-pointer tied the game at 18 in the first half and his final one gave the Gators a 38-37 lead with 10:42 left in the game. Shaun Waage also hit double figures with 10 rebounds. He also sunk one of two free throws with 2.5 seconds left to give the Gators’ their final margin of victory. Defensively, the Gators held the Bears to 25 percent shooting. Austin Aune led the Gators in steals with three. After the Christmas break, Christian said he looks for his team to continue to improve, currently standing at a 3-4 mark. The Gators open the post-Christmas schedule with a home game versus the Northern Freeze on January 3 and then head on the road versus the Stephen-Argyle Storm on January 10. Copyright of The Tribune (Greenbush, Minn.) Gators stifled by Freeze By: Ryan Bergeron GREENBUSH, MINN— Following his team’s first loss of the season versus Thief River Falls on December 29, Freeze Boys’ Basketball Head Coach Zach Green said he talked about effort, defense, and rebounding with his team. His team got that in a 67-33 game versus the Badger/Greenbush-Middle River Gators on Thursday, January 5. “We know some nights we’re not going to shoot great. There’s nothing you can do about it, but you can make sure your effort’s there and that’s defense, rebounding,” Coach Green said. “… You work hard, you’re going to be in every game; you’ll give yourselves a chance to win no matter how good the offense can be.” Opening runs in both the first and second half helped the Freeze create some separation. Wyatt Bannerman hit a two-pointer to give the Freeze a 13-0 lead with 11:42 left in the first half. The Freeze opened the second half on a 11-3 run, capped by a Jonah Underdahl two-pointer, putting the Gators in a 47-27 hole. In the game, the Freeze connected on eight three-pointers, with six players hitting at least one-- a product of, Freeze Head Coach Zach Green said, his team’s trust. “We talked to the kids about trusting each other and it’s so much more fun to play the game then,” Coach Green said. “And we go a period where we do it and some periods we don’t. As long as we keep doing more and more of it, this team has a lot more fun that way.” From the field, the Freeze shot 39 percent from the field, led by Freeze senior captain Connor Sorenson’s 15 points. “You need to have a good captain. He leads by example. He kind of had a little rough stretch there against TR (Thief River Falls), like everyone,” Coach Green said. “… It’s fun to have him around. He’s stepped up; he’s matured, so it’s kind of cool to see those kids take over that role.” Kaden Monsebroten also hit double figures for the Freeze with 10 points. Ellert Adamek and Sawyer Nelson each scored nine points to also pace the Freeze offense. On the other end, the Gators scored its fewest points of the season, shooting 13 percent from the field. They did make 15 of 21 free throws, but those opening half runs did in it for Gator Head Coach Kent Christian’s team, playing in their first game since December 22. “You know, we can sit there and make the excuse, well, we haven’t played for two weeks and that definitely showed tonight, but we were nowhere to be found tonight,” Coach Christian said. Asked about the impact of the Freeze’s ball movement in creating open looks against him team, Coach Christian said this. “We said that before. They’re having a great year… they played very, very well together, coached very well. I was very impressed.” The Gator offense didn’t score its first point until a Jake Taggart free throw with 11:26 in the first half making the score 13-1. Taggart made the Gators’ first shot--a layup with 8:34 remaining in the first half--to cut the score to 18-4. In that first half Coach Christian used four of his five timeouts, trailing 32-13 before the fourth timeout. Following that timeout and now trailing 34-13 after a pair of Sawyer Nelson free throws with 3:34 remaining in the first half, the Gators closed the half on an 11-2 run, capped by a Connor Graff three-pointer with two seconds remaining, drawing the Gators to within 12 at 36-24. The Gators would get no closer, getting outscored 31-9 in the second half. Offensively, no Gator player hit double figures, but Skyler Forst led the team in scoring with seven points. Graff and Austin Aune each chipped in six apiece. Asked what he’s looking from his team following this loss and throughout the rest of the season, Coach Christian said, “show a little bit of heart.” Next Action: After having played a road game versus the Stephen-Argyle Storm on Tuesday, January 10, the Gator boys return home to play the Warren-Alvarado-Oslo Ponies on Thursday, January 12. They head back on the road to play the Lake of the Woods Bears on Friday, January 13 and then the Goodridge/Grgyla-Gatzke Chargers on Monday, January 16. Copyright of The Tribune (Greenbush, Minn.) and the North Star News (Karlstad, Minn.) STORM RUN OVER GATORS

Hoping to rebound from a tough loss to the Northern Freeze, the BGMR Gator Basketball team traveled to Kimbell Arena in Stephen to take on an ever improving Stephen-Argyle Storm team. Despite a much more spirited effort by the Gators the Storm took advantage of 19 Gator turnovers and raced to a 78-55 victory over the Gators. The first half would see the Gators hang around for the first 14 minutes. The Storm pressure however got to the Gators with the Storm creating some turnovers and easy baskets which would result in a 40-27 halftime lead. BGMR would battle in the second half but were unable to overcome the talent of the Storm. Offensively the Gators were led by Austin Aune who had 12 points. Jake Taggart managed to dump in 8 and Adam Benke, who was seeing is first varsity action of his career also had 8. Connor Graff led the Gators in rebounding with 9 and Shaun Waage pulled down 7 boards. The Storm were led by Chris McGlynn who had a quiet 27 points and 8 rebounds. Stoene Spilde had 17 point, Zac Fincher 13 and Isaac Mills 11. The Gators continue with a busy week when the Ponies from Warren- Alvarado-Oslo come to The Swamp tomorrow night. The Ponies have struggled this year but whenever the Ponies and Gators get together it is a battle. BGMR will travel to Baudette on Friday night to take on a much improved Bears team. Gator Nation is needed as this Gator team needs to start finding its groove. There were signs of improvement against the Storm and BGMR hopes they can build on those signs. Taggart leads Gators over Ponies By: Ryan Bergeron Hitting layups, two-point jumpers, and three-pointers, the Gators’ Jake Taggart scored 19 points in the first half of a home game versus the Warren-Alvarado-Oslo Ponies on January 12. Outside Taggart, the Gators scored seven points, including two made baskets, and trailed 31-26 at halftime. Taggart continued to score in the second half, finishing with 35 points, but in this half, some other Gator teammates also contributed offensively in leading the Gators to a 72-61 victory. “He kept us in the game,” Christian said of Taggart’s performance in the first half. “He was tough tonight, and Jake’s like that. When he feels good about his game, he can go off for that. It’s (a) really nice night for him.” Taggart finished five of six from three-point land, 13 of 19 (68 percent) from the field overall, and four for four from the free throw line. Trailing 15-7 after Jackson Steer successfully completed a two and one opportunity with 12:18 remaining in the first half, the Gators saw Taggart begin to heat up. Scoring two points earlier on, Taggart scored eight points, including two three- pointers, during a 9-2 run drawing the Gators to win one at 17-16. Seeing the deficit grow back to six, Taggart scored seven points during a 7-0 Gators run, giving his team its first lead since 3-2 in the opening two minutes at 23-22 with 3:06 remaining in the half. The Ponies would respond by ending the half on a 9-2 run, capped by a Matthew Korynta two-pointer off an offensive rebound with half a second remaining in the half. “I really challenged a couple players, and after halftime I think they came out and responded pretty well,” Coach Christian said about his message at halftime. Taggart would open the half with his fourth of five made three-pointers to draw the Gators to within two at 31-29, but then some other teammates started to get involved. “What I liked (in) the second half, when they were keying on him (Taggart) a little bit more, he found other people, so it was a good game,” Christian said. Conner Graff would tie the game at 31 with a made basket at the 16:51 mark. After not scoring any points in that first half, Graff finished the game with 10 points. Scoring just two points in the first half, Shaun Waage scored six points during a 9-2 Gator second half run, capped by an Adam Benke three-pointer, giving the Gators a 42-38 lead with 11:22, an advantage they would never relinquish. Waage finished with double-double, scoring 13 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. The Gators would expand the lead to double digits for the first time in the game after a Graff two-pointer with 5:03 left, giving the Gators a 55-44 lead. The Ponies would draw any closer than nine points and Gators would make some free throws late to expand the lead to high as 16. Offensively for the Ponies, Jackson Steer led the way with 18 points. Matthew Korynta also hit double figures with 12 points, and Mason Wang came one point shy of double-double, scoring nine points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Copyright of The Tribune (Greenbush, Minn.)

GATORS PICK UP ROAD WIN Making the long road trip to Baudette can be tough for any team and the ever improving Lake of the Woods Bears team put up a good fight but BGMR used some dominate inside play in the second half to secure a 50-31 win over the Bears. In the first half both teams had trouble scoring as the Gators would go into the break with a 19-15 lead. The Gators however would come out in the second half and finally decided to attack the Bears inside. With this BGMR was able to get some easy inside baskets while the Bears continued to struggle with their shooting. Offensively the Gators were led by Connor Graff who had 14 points. Austin Aune would put up a double double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Jake Taggart threw in 10 points. Shaun Waage pulled down 11 rebounds for the Gators. The Bears were led by standout Jacob Fish who had 20 points. Jogan Rennemo and Mark Brooks were the only other two to score for the Bears. The win was the second in a row for the Gators. During the winning streak the Gators have done an outstanding job of taking care of the ball having only 11 turnovers total in two games. BGMR will have its work cut out for themselves on Monday when the travel to Goodridge to take on an experienced Charger team.

CHARGERS BIG SECOND HALF SPELLS DOOM FOR GATORS Riding a 5 game winning streak the Grygla-Goodridge Chargers welcomed the BGMR Gators to Goodridge for a boys basketball game. Unfortunately for the Gators the Chargers were not gracious host and used a dominating second half to run by the Gators 78-42. BGMR played a solid first half and trailed 26-23 going into the break. The Gators would have had a halftime lead however the Chargers dominated the offensive glass with over 12 offensive rebounds in the first half alone. The second half saw the Chargers working like a finally tuned machine while the Gators sputtered on offense. BGMR would shoot only 21% on the night meanwhile the Chargers got out in transition and scored layup after layup. Senior Blaine Kriel also got hot for the Chargers as Kriel knocked down 5 of 10 3 point attempts and finished the game with 29 points. Ben Groven notched a double double with 16 points and 10 rebounds and Dylan Walker also picked up a double double with 11 points and 14 rebounds. Offensively for the Gators Jake Taggart finished with 14 points and Austin Aune threw in 10. Despite the lopsided loss the Gators did show effort. Defensive rebounding will be a huge area of emphasis over the next couple weeks and an area where the Gators must get better if they expect to compete. BGMR will now travel to East Grand Forks on Friday night to take on the Green Wave. The Green Wave have a talented young team and it will be a huge Section 8AA test for the Gators. Gator Nation continues to travel well and the Gator Boys team hopes that continues on Friday night.

GREEN WAVE RUN BY GATORS

The East Grand Forks Green Wave and BGMR Gators boys basketball teams participated in a good old fashion basketball shootout. Unfortunately the Green Wave had more shots in their arsenal and beat the Gators 77-72. The Green Wave would open up a big first half lead but the persistent Gators would chip away and both teams would go into halftime tied at 36. The Green Wave would open another big second half lead but the Gators would fight back and close the gap to 3 but could get no closer and the Green Wave escaped with the win. The Gators were balanced in their scoring as Connor Graff poured in 17 to lead the way. Adam Benke would dump in 12, Austin Aune and Dylan Heggedal 11 each and Shaun Waage put in 10. Aune would complete the double double with 10 rebounds and Heggedal was 1 rebound short of picking up his first career double double. The Green Wave got solid offensive performances from Julian Benson who had 21 points. Christian Dugan dumped in 20, Sam Votava netted 14 and Aaron Havis pumped in 11. The loss dropped the Gators record to 5-8. BGMR will look to get back on track on Tuesday night when the Bearcats from Kittson Central come to the Swamp. The Bearcats are a well coached team and the Gators have struggled against them as of late. BGMR however is playing better basketball and they hope they continue to improve as playoff time is just over a month away. The Gators parents are sponsoring a pulled pork dinner tomorrow night. They will be serving from 5-7 so please come on out and support the Gator Boys Program. Gator boys pay for leaving Coffield open By: Ryan Bergeron Trailing 30-18 at halftime, the Gator boys started the half on a 9-0 run in a home game versus the Kittson County Bearcats on January 24. Dylan Heggedal would cap this Gator run with a made mid-range two-point jumper, quickly pumping his fist, as he helped the Gators trim the deficit to three at 30-27 with 15:14 remaining in the game. Then Trevor Coffield would respond from outside.

Coffield would make three unanswered three-pointers as part of a 12-0 Bearcat run, putting the Gators in a 15-point deficit with 11:46 remaining. The Gators would never draw any closer than 12 points and would trail by as many as 19 in the second half of a 64-52 loss.

“He got hot and we left him open. I told the guys after a timeout, ‘He’s a great shooter.’ And we left him open for three of them (three-pointers) and pretty soon it’s a 12-point lead,” Gator Head Coach Kent Christian said. “You fight hard to get it down to three and then let him go off. And give him credit. He hit some nice shots, but we can’t leave him open.”

Coffield would finish with 15 points, all coming on three-pointers—two in the first and three in the second. No other Bearcats player would hit a three-point shot. Cole Johnson would lead the Bearcats with 19 points and Bryden Swenson would also hit double figures with 12 points to pace the road team’s offense. Overall, the Bearcats shot nearly 47 percent from the floor.

Speaking of three-point shots, the Gators’ Brandon Sorenson would make three as part of a team-high 14 points. He would score nine points in the first half to help keep his team in the game.

“Brandon wants to win. He’s a winner. He works hard all, what, 65 pounds of him,” Coach Christian said. “ He’s out there going after boards, hitting some big shots, going to the hoop, so I thought he played real well tonight.” The Gators would get off to a slow start offensively in the first half, trailing 18-5 after the Bearcats’ Johnson made a layup with 10:17 remaining in the half. Sorenson’s second three-pointer of the game would begin a 10-6 Gator first half run, cutting the deficit to single digits at 24-15 with 4:03 remaining.

Conner Graff also hit double figures for the Gators with 10 points. As a team, the Gators shot nearly 34 percent from the floor. On the defensive end, Austin Aune had a team-high three steals.

With the loss, the Gators moved to 5-9 on the season.

Copyright of The Tribune (Greenbush, Minn.) RESILENCY PAYS OF FOR GATOR BOYS

Finding themselves down 13 at halftime and 18 early in the second half the BGMR Gator Boy’s basketball team fought back and downed the Sacred Heart Eagles 64-60 in a Saturday afternoon game at The Swamp. Not being able to find the basket in the first half the Gators found themselves in trouble early. BGMR went into halftime shooting 7-29 from the field and the 13 point deficit felt like 100. Fortunately the Gators came out in the second half, were able to establish an inside game and chipped away tying the game at the 5:00 minute mark of the second half. In the last minute BGMR would seal the game from the charity stripe as the Eagles were forced to foul. Austin Aune broke out of his mini slump and poured in 22 points for the Gators. Jake Taggart was the only other Gator in double figures with 12 points. BGMR however got key contributions for Dillion Nieman and several of his teammates and the Gators made it a true team victory. Sacred Heart landed four individuals in double figures scoring. Jordan Tomkinson and Brenden Bathke both chipped in 14 but this was well below their season average as Jake Taggart and Brandon Sorenson played solid defense for the Gators. Jack Gerber battled foul trouble much of the night but managed to score 12 and pull down11 rebounds. Evan Sczepanski notched 10 points and ripped down 15 rebounds for the Eagles. It was a solid win for the Gators against a strong Eagle team. The Gators will now have a busy week as the Warriors from Warroad come to The Swamp tomorrow night. It is an important Section 8AA game for both teams. Thursday the Gators travel to Clearbrook to take on the Bears. The Bears have been struggling but the long road trip will be a test for the Gators. BGMR will follow that up when on Friday they travel to Karlstad to take on a tough Northern Freeze team. The season gets busy and playoff time is just around the corner. Gator Nation needs to come out and help the ever improving Gator team out. SLOW START COST GATORS

In a disturbing trend the BGMR Boys Basketball Team got off to another slow start and despite a valiant second half surge the Gators dropped a 57-41 decision to the Warroad Warriors. The first half saw the Gators playing sloppy and uninspired and in turn the Gators went into halftime trailing 34-19. The Gators went a 9 minute spurt where they failed to score and the opportunistic Warriors took advantage. At the 10 minute mark of the second half the Gators started to show some life and cut the Warrior lead to 10. BGMR had several chances to cut into the lead more but several shots went in and out and BGMR simply ran out of gas at the end. Offensively the Gators shot a dismal 24% from the field. The leading scorer for the Gators was Adam Benke who had 8. Austin Aune was able to rip down 11 rebounds. The Gators limited the Warriors to 35% shooting however the Warriors landed four people in double digits. Phil Ness pumped in 16. Tyler Fox and Clay Heppner each scored 14 and Isasc Falk-Stoskopf scored 11. The busy week continues for the Gators as they will travel to Clearbrook tomorrow to take on the Bears. On Friday the Gators travel to Karlstad to take on the Freeze. Better shooting and less mental errors will be the key for the Gators if they want to achieve the lofty goals they have set.

SHOOTING WOES CONTINUE TO PLAGUE GATORS

The BGMR Gator Boys Basketball team made the long trip to Clearbrook to take on the Clearbrook-Gonvick Bears. The Gators played a strong first half and went into halftime with a 30-19 lead. Unfortunately for the Gators their shooting was non-existent in the second half and the Bears raced to a 59-54 victory. BGMR landed two individuals in double digit scoring. Connor Graff led the Gators with 12 and Austin Aune chipped in 10. BGMR also improved their rebounding a great deal as they pulled down 19 offensive rebounds and out rebounded the Bears 50-32. Shooting however has plagued the Gators much of the year and the game against the Bears was no exception. BGMR finished the game shooting 28% which included a 4 for 25 performance from beyond the 3 point line. Clearbrook-Gonvick landed three individuals in double digits scoring wise. Trevor Rogstad scored 19 which include 5 for 10 from beyond the 3 point line. Jonny Hamnes scored 11 and Nathanael Dahl scored 10. The Gators will need to bounce back in a hurry as they travel to Karlstad tonight to take on the Northern Freeze. BGMR will need to get its shooting touch back if they stand a chance against the Freeze. Karlstad is a ruckus place to play so the Gators will need to be at their best. Gator offense goes cold in second half By: Ryan Bergeron KARLSTAD, MINN—At halftime, the Freeze led the Gators 27-23 in boys’ basketball action on February 3. Things would change in the second half. After halftime, the Freeze defense stepped up its game, helping it go on a 26-0 run, and the Gators offense scored seven points, turning a tight affair into a 62-30 win for the Freeze.

“A lot of it I’m going to contribute to our defense,” Freeze Head Coach Zach Green said about his team’ second half performance. “We created some turnovers, we got some fast breaks, got some easy points, (which) got the guys loosened up. And then we started moving a lot more on offense… shots started to fall, and everything started working a lot better.”

Holding a team to 30 points or less for the second straight game, the Freeze defense held the Gators to 23.4 percent shooting. Offensively, the Freeze shot 41.8 percent, led by Connor Sorenson’s game-high 22 points, the only Freeze player to hit double figures.

The Gators would actually jump out to a 9-2 lead to the open the game, capped by a Brandon Sorenson three-pointer with 14:43 left in the half. He would score another three-pointer 28 seconds later to give the Gators a 12-6 lead.

Responding with an 8-2 run, the Freeze would tie the game for the first time since 2- 2 in the opening minute, capped by a Connor Sorenson jumper with 11:05 left, tying the game at 14. Neither team would build a lead larger than three the rest of the half, until the Freezes’ Sawyer Nelson ended the second half scoring with a couple free throws to extend the Freeze led to four.

The only Gator to hit double figures with 13 points, Connor Graff opened the half with a two-point basket to draw his team to within two. After this Graff basket, the Freeze went on a 7-0 run. Graff would halt this spurt with another two-point basket, drawing the Gators to within seven at 34-27 with 12:20 remaining. The Gators wouldn’t score again until a Michael Olson three-pointer with 1:19 remaining in the game. “We played real good first half. In fact, I thought we had good effort all night long. Second half, we just really struggled scoring and that’s kind of been our MO this year,” Gator Coach Kent Christian said. “… They (the Freeze) are a very good team. I thought our effort was there again, just had trouble scoring.”

Asked what his team can do to work on this scoring issue, Coach Christian said, “Like I just told the guys, they got to tighten up their defense that much more and probably take better shots, try to get to the free throw line a little bit more. I thought we took good shots, but yeah that’s kind of the thousand dollar question right now.”

Asked what he’s looking for from his players as they draw closer to postseason play, Coach Green emphasized consistency and discussed his bench play, complimenting it in this game, especially as some of his starters encountered some foul trouble.

“We’re deep enough that if someone isn’t ready to go, we got people that can step up, but biggest thing for me I guess is constant effort,” Coach Green said. “For us, it was pretty clear (in the) second half, (if) you give the effort, you get rewarded. (If) you don’t give the effort, usually those are the games we get beat.”

Next Action: Gators-- On Thursday, February 9, the Gators head to East Grand Forks to play the Sacred Heart Eagles, before playing the Hawley Nuggets in a neutral site game at the Fargo Civic Center on Saturday, February 11. The Gators then return home on Tuesday, February 14 to host the Crookston Pirates. Copyright of The Tribune (Greenbush, Minn.)

GATORS DROP ROAD DECISION Playing their first game in almost the week and coming of a humbling loss to the Northern Freeze the BGMR Gator Boys Basketball Team was ready for action when they traveled to East Grand Forks to take on the Sacred Heart Eagles. The Gators beat the Eagles two weeks ago coming from 18 points down so the Eagles were looking for redemption. Traveling to the Eagle’s gym is hard for any team but the Gators were up for the task. Unfortunately the Gators had some costly turnovers and missed some key shots down the stretch and the Eagles got their revenge with a 65-61 victory over the Eagles. The Gators and Eagles would play back and forth basketball in the first half as both teams shot the ball fairly well. BGMR would go into halftime with a 33-32 lead. The second half would continue to be close as no team would open more than a 5 point lead. The Eagles however road the strong play of Jordan Tomkinson who had 23 points and 12 rebounds and Jack Gerber who threw in 17 points and ripped down 16 rebounds to pull out the home court victory. Brenden Bethke also had a solid night for the Eagles as he notched 13 points, had 5 rebounds and 3 steals. BGMR got solid nights from Brandon Sorenson and Jake Taggart. Sorenson scored a career high 17 points which included 5 of 6 from the three point line. Taggart also chipped in 17. Shaun Waage had a strong night for the Gators as he pulled down 15 rebounds and just missed the double double with 8 points. Although the Gators lost they showed an improved floor game and shot the ball more consistently. They will need to improve their game even more as the season winds down. BGMR will travel to Fargo North Dakota where they will be playing the Hawley Nuggets on Saturday at 3:15 at the Fargo Civic Auditorium. The Nuggets are a Section 8AA opponent for the Gators but an opponent the Gators have never played. Hopefully Gator Nation can make it to Fargo to help the Gators out in the key 8AA game. NUGGETS DESTROY GATORS

As part of the Section 8AA day at the Fargo Civic Auditorium the BGMR Gators and Hawley Nuggets met up for the first time ever. The Gators are hoping that they don’t have to see the Nuggets ever again as the Hawley Nuggets destroyed the BGMR Gators 80-33 in high school boys basketball action. The Gators stayed close to the Nuggets for the first 4 minutes of the game. After that the Nuggets scored at will and did anything they wanted against the Gators. Hawley left little doubt in the first half as they raced to a 47-11 lead. Coming out of halftime BGMR was looking to win the second half. Unfortunately for the Gators even the Nugget reserve players were ready for game action and the Nuggets outscored the Gators 33-22 in the second half. Hawley had 11 players reach the scoring column. They were led by Jayden Carlisle who had 22 points. Drew Thompson and Donnie Loegering each pumped in 13. The Gators were led by Austin Aune who pumped in 19 of the teams 33 points. Aune also pulled down 8 rebounds. No other Gator managed more than 5 points. The schedule does not get any easier for the Gators as they return home for a Tuesday night matchup versus the Crookston Pirates. The Pirates are a solid team and BGMR is going to have to find a way to play much better if the plan on competing in the upcoming Section 8AA playoffs. Offensive struggles plague Gators in loss to Pirates By: Ryan Bergeron After shooting 32.4 percent from the floor and committing 29 turnovers in an 80-33 loss to the Hawley Nuggets three days prior, the Gator boys’ would allow their offensive struggles to continue when they returned home for a game versus another fellow Section 8AA team, the Crookston Pirates, on Tuesday, February 14. Shooting 26.7 percent from the floor and committing 18 turnovers, several leading to breakaway layups for the Pirates, the Gators fell by a 63-33 final. “... This time of year (18 turnovers) is too many, but most of those coming in the second half. But, we just didn’t shoot the ball very well again,” Gator Head Coach Kent Christian said. Trailing 10-4 with 13:14 remaining in the first half, the Gators would close to within two at 10-8 with 11:19 remaining after a Connor Graff jumper and two made free throws. The Gators would get no closer, thanks in part to the Pirates’ three-point shooting. In that first half, the Pirates made five three-pointers and finished the game 53 percent (9 of 17) from beyond the arc. “They got some good shooters and what happened was that they (our Gator players) allowed them to dribble penetrate and they’re able to kick out (for the open three-pointers).” Offensively, Matt Garmen led the Pirates with 16 points. Chris Wavra scored 13 points and Todd Boerger 10 points to also pace the Pirates. These three players accounted for all of the Pirates’ three point shots, led by Garmen’s four of five performance. Speaking of three-pointers, Brandon Sorenson would score the only one for the Gators, finishing nine percent from the three-point line as a team, with 51 seconds remaining in the first half to draw the home team to within 14. The Gators would trail 33-17 at halftime. In the second half, the Gators trailed 36-20 with 14:48 remaining in the game, but the Pirates would use a 9-0 run, aided by three three-pointers, two from Garmen and one from Wavra, putting the Gators in a 45-20 hole with 12:11 remaining. The Gators would allow the Pirates to continue to build on that lead, trailing by as many 35 points in the half. Offensively, Connor Graff led the Gators with 11 points. Austin Aune also hit double figures for the Gators with 10 points, coming three rebounds shy of a double-double. With this loss, the team’s sixth in a row, the Gators dropped to a 6-15 mark on the season. “I think we’re closer than what even the guys think,” Coach Christian said when asked what his team has to do to right the ship. “We just don’t have much room for error, but we’re coming down the stretch here, so we do have to get it corrected soon.” Copyright of The Tribune (Greenbush, Minn.) GATORS END LOSING STREAK The BGMR Gator Boys Basketball Team ended their 6 game losing streak with a 57-46 win over the Warren-Alvarado-Oslo Ponies. The Gators would jump on the Ponies early and would open up a 15 point lead midway through the first half. The never say die Ponies however would end the half on a run and cut the Gator lead to 27-19 at halftime. The Gators again would open the second taking a sizeable lead but the Ponies would not go away on their parent’s night and cut the Gator lead to 3 with just over 5 minutes to play. BGMR would get some solid bench play down the stretch from Yannik Kroeller Fernandez and Adam Benke to bring home the victory. The Gators again struggled shooting the ball as they shot 29% as a team. BGMR however got a solid night from Jake Taggart who pumped in 26 points. The Ponies will be happy not having to see Taggart again this year as he scored 35 in the Ponies and Gators first matchup. Austin Aune was the only other Gator in double digit scoring. Aune had 14 points and ripped down 19 rebounds to complete the double-double. The Ponies, who were without a couple players, got a big night from Brandon Wang who dumped in 23 points and pulled down 17 rebounds. No other Pony would get into double digit scoring as the Ponies managed to shot only 24% on the night. The Gators will need to pick up their game as playoffs are just over 2 weeks away. BGMR will return home on Tuesday when the Gators will take on the Storm from Stephen-Argyle. The Storm are playing excellent basketball and look to be the team to be in Section 8A West. BGMR will need to be at their best in order to compete with the Storm. Gators fall to strong-shooting Storm By: Ryan Bergeron After ending a season-high six-game losing streak, the Gators returned home for a match up versus the 19-3 Stephen-Argyle Storm, entering the Swamp on an 11- game winning streak. The Gators would stay close early in the first half, trailing 7-5 after the Gators’ Austin Aune scored two at the 12:45 mark. But, a 32-7 Storm run to end the half would send the Gators into halftime down 39-12, before eventually falling by a 66-29 final. “They’re big and they can shoot the ball really well,” Gator Coach Kent Christian said about the Storm. “I thought first four minutes again, we played well, we came ready to play. It’s just a team (the Storm) you can’t make a mistake against. They’re really well coached.” Speaking of mistakes, the Gators committed 22 turnovers in the game. The Gators would take the first lead of the game on a Jake Taggart three-point shot to open the scoring just over one minute into the game, but would never lead again after the Storm went on a 7-3 run, including a Hunter Yutrzenka three-pointer, a Zac Fincher layup and a Yutrzenka layup, giving the Storm a 7-3 lead with 14:55 remaining in the half. To open the second half, the Gators allowed the Storm to go on 12-0 run for a 51-12 lead, before Yannik Kroeller Fernandez scored the first Gator second half points, on a two and one opportunity with 12:21 left in the game. As a team, the Gators again experienced struggles shooting the ball, making four shots in the first half and five in the second half. The home team finished 19 percent from the floor to score the season-low 29 points. The Gators did finish the game with five made three-point shots, four in the second half, accounting for 12 of the team’s 17 second half points. In that half, Connor Graff would sink two three-pointers, Taggart his second of the game, and Kasen Swenson the last one. No Gator player hit double figures, but Taggart led the team with eight points. Offensively, the Storm, shot 46 percent from the floor and 56 percent (9 of 16) from three-point range. Yutrzenka led the Storm with 17 points, including a three of four performance from beyond the arc. Chris McGlynn scored 13 points, including a three of six night from beyond the arc, for the Storm. Regardless of the season-low point total, Coach Christian complimented his team’s effort again. “I thought our effort was outstanding. The guys didn’t quit. You know what, they were better than us tonight and we’re going to have to find some ways to try to keep these games a little bit closer, especially coming into tournaments. And again we’re going to have to shoot the ball better.” Copyright of The Tribune (Greenbush, Minn.) VALIANT GATOR EFFORT COMES UP SHORT The BGMR Gator Boys Basketball Team traveled to Warroad to take on the Warriors in a critical Section 8AA matchup on Friday night. The Gators gave everything they had effort wise but came up on the short end by the score of 44-39. Both teams would struggle offensively in the first half with the Warriors going into halftime with a 20-18 lead. BGMR would fall down by 9 in the second half but showed some grit and determination getting back in the game narrowing the deficit to 4. BGMR however had some crucial turnovers and were unable to get some key baskets after playing some great defense on the Warriors which would doom the Gators. Connor Graff was the only Gator to achieve double digit scoring wise as Graff would have 12 points. BGMR rebounded the ball well as Shaun Waage had 11, Austin Aune 10 and Dylan Heggedal a career high 10 rebounds. Unfortunately, as has been the case for most of the season for the Gators, their shooting or lack of cost the Gators. BGMR would shoot 24% on the night. Warroad would land Phil Ness in double digit scoring as he had 16 and Isaac Falk- Stoskopf would dump in 11. Ness would complete the double double with 11 rebounds. Every game is critical for the Gators as they fight for playoff positioning. BGMR will play their final home game of the 2016-2017 season tomorrow night when the Gators take on the Grygla-Goodridge Chargers. The Chargers are having an outstanding season and tomorrows contest is an important one for both teams as the playoffs are just around the corner.

Gators fall short in home finale By: Ryan Bergeron Before the ball even tipped between the Gators and Goodridge/Grygla-Gatzke Chargers boys basketball teams on February 28 from “The Swamp”, those in attendance had the chance to witness a moment for one Gator senior on “Senior Night”. Out for much of the season with a foot fracture, Gator senior Skyler Forst came through the Gator tunnel on his crutches and walking boot as his name was announced as an honorary starter. Asked what Forst means to his program after the game, Gator Head Coach Kent Christian pointed to his character. “He mean’s a lot. He’s been an outstanding athlete for us, probably a better person off the court than on the court, and he’s a great person on the court,” Coach Christian said. “So, he deserved it. It’s too bad what happened with the break (to his foot). I know he’s really disappointed, but hopefully he’ll be ready for baseball.” When the game did tip off, the Gators would trail early on, experiencing troubles rebounding in the first half, and paying the price in a 70-55 loss to the Chargers— the Gators’ final regular season home game. The Chargers outrebounded the Gators by a 46-25 margin. “They’re just a lot stronger than we are at this point,” Coach Christian said about the Chargers’ effort on the boards. “They’re a veteran team and that (rebounding issue) was mostly in the first half—that absolutely killed us. Second half, I thought we did a better job of it, but again it was just physical strength.” Trailing 20-11 after a Dylan Manderud layup, the Gators trailed 20-11 with 8:31 remaining in the first half, but would respond. The Gators would go on a 9-2 run, beginning with a Adam Benke three-pointer and ending with a couple Brandon Sorenson made free throws with 4:39 in the half; the Gators trailed 22-20. The Gators would then allow the Chargers to go on a 16-6 run to end the half, putting the home team in 38-26 deficit heading into the break. Six of the Chargers points during that run came off the hands of Blaine Kriel, sinking two three-pointers. Kriel would lead the Chargers with 20 points and 13 rebounds. To begin the half, the home team would go on an 11-6 run, cutting the deficit to seven on three occasions, the final one after the Gators’ Shaun Waage made a layup with 12:54 remaining in the game, making the score 44-37. The Gators would get no closer, allowing the Chargers to gradually extend its lead to as high as 18 points, before falling by the final margin. Offensively, the Gators shot 30 percent from the floor. Dylan Heggedal led the Gators with 10 points. Austin Aune, Shaun Waage, and Connor Graff would each chip in eight points, respectively, for the home team. Besides Kriel’s 20-point effort, two other Chargers players hit double figures, including Dylan Walker with 18 points and Tyler Stinar with 12 points. As a team, the Chargers shot 42 percent from the floor. Despite watching his team trail by double digits late in the game, Coach Christian appreciated his players’ effort until the final buzzer. “I was proud of our effort—no complaints with that tonight. Again, we got to rebound better. I thought they got a few more loose balls than us and then we had some open looks that we need to put down.” Copyright of The Tribune (Greenbush, Minn.) GATORS LOOK FORWARD TO PLAYOFFS The BGMR Boys Basketball Team completed the regular season with a 61-51 loss to the Roseau Rams. In a game that had huge playoff seeding implications, the Gators would come out flat and fall down 10-0 to the Rams. BGMR would fall down by as many as 16 in the second half but the Gators would not go quietly as they cut the Ram lead to 3 with just over 2 minutes to play. The Ram lead however was too much to overcome and the Gators suffered their 4th straight loss. BGMR suffered through a 27% shooting night. BGMR was led in scoring by a pair of sophomores in Jake Taggart and Dylan Heggedal who each chipped in 12. Austin Aune completed a double double for the Gators as he had 11 points and 11 rebounds. The Rams got a solid performance from Eric Hoffer who had 19 points. Nate Corbit was the only other Ram in double figures as Corbit chipped in 13. BGMR finished the regular season with a 7-19 record. Their new season however will begin on Thursday night when the Gators travel to Breckenridge to take on the Cowboys in the opening round of the Section 8AA playoffs. The Cowboys are the number two seed in Section 8AAwith the Gators being the fifteen seed. It is playoff time and anything can happen. The Gators will need to be at their best if they have any plans of pulling the upset of the highly regarded Cowboys. It is playoff time and time for the Gators to show that their regular season wasn’t a reflection of the type of team they are. Gator Nation is needed to make the long drive to Breckenridge and help the Gator boys out. GATOR SEASON COMES TO AN END Being the 15th seed in the Section 8AA Playoffs the BGMR Gator Boys Basketball Team knew they had a tough task when they had to travel to the 2nd seeded Breckenridge Cowboys. The Cowboys used pressure defense and solid shooting to send the Gators home for the season as the Cowboys drilled the Gators 94-35. Breckenridge dominated the Gators from the tipoff as the Cowboys would jump out to an 18-2 lead. The Gators were getting stops on defense put the Cowboys dominated the Gators on the boards which produced the big lead early. BGMR worked as hard as they could but the Cowboys would continue to build on their lead and went into halftime with a comfortable 49-18 margin. The Gators were looking to make a game of it in the second half but again the Cowboys pressure and strength got to the Gators. Breckenridge showed that it could be the team to beat in Section 8AA as they raced to the 59 point margin of victory. Offensively the Gators again shot a miserable 27% from the field. Dylan Heggedal led the Gators in scoring with 10. Brandon Sorenson scored 9 and Shaun Waage netted 8. The Cowboys got a tremendous effort from Stevin Lipp who drilled the Gators for 34 points. Lipp shot 72% from the field which included 6 for 6 from the three point line. No other Cowboy was in double figures as the Cowboy coaching staff limited the playing time of many of their players. With the loss the Gators ended their season with a 7-20 record. Although the Gators did not finish with a good record many strides were made throughout the season as BGMR played several younger players. These younger players will be the building blocks for the Gators but all of them will need to get into the weight room and continue to work on their shooting if they plan to achieve the lofty goals the coaching staff as set for the program. With the end of season so to comes the end of the careers for four Gator seniors. Graduating will be Skyler Forst, Austin Aune, Connor Graff, Jared Davy, and Michael Olson. Each of these has been a vital part to the Gator program and it will be sad to see them go. The Gator boys would like to take this time to thank Gator Nation for their outstanding support all year. Especially for the tournament game that was a 3 ½ hour drive. Breckenridge fans were extremely impressed with the Gator crowd. The team would also like to thank the parents and 4th grade class who prepared the sack lunches for the trip to Breckenridge. Also a big thank you to the Cowboy Booster club who provided pizza for the Gator team after the game. The 2016-2017 season now comes to an end but Gator Nation does not have to fear as the orange balls will be bouncing and the 2017-2018 season is just over 240 days away!