Bainville Qualifies For Divisional Tourney
The road wasn’t an easy one, but Bainville’s boys’ basketball team qualified for the divisional tournament for the third time in five years. The Bulldogs edged Richey/Lambert, 37-35, in the third-place game of the District 2C tournament in Sidney on Saturday afternoon.
“It was a gritty win,” Bainville Coach Shawn Romo said after the victory. “We’re fortunate to come away on top.”
The game wasn’t decided until a final three-point attempt by the Fusion bounced off the rim at the buzzer.
Romo appreciated how seniors Rowan Wilson and Kaiden Holmes helped control the game’s tempo during the contest.
“It was definitely a team effort with the way some of our younger players stepped up,” Romo added.
Bainville’s path to the thirdplace trophy wasn’t easy after the Bulldogs suffered an opening-round loss against MonDak. The coach said the Bulldogs did a better job of being patient offensively during the rest of the tournament that included a win over Culbertson.
“We knew we had to get back to being us,” Romo said.
The Bulldogs gained an 1815 lead when Rowan Wilson hit a tough 12-footer in traffic to end the second quarter’s scoring.
Richey/Lambert pulled even at 20-20 on a drive by Curtis Mullin and a three-pointer by Tanner Goosen. After the Fusion took a 21-20 lead on a free throw by Beau Mullin, the Bulldogs answered with two free tosses by Wilson and an inside shot by Kaiden Holmes.
A drive by freshman Charles Johnston put the Bulldogs ahead 26-22, but Richey/Lambert’s Trace Fulton fired in a three-pointer to end the third quarter.
Bainville earned a 31-27 advantage with 5:48 left on a free throw by Johnston, an inside shot by Holmes and a turnaround jumper by Parker Berwick. The Fusion, however, didn’t back down and responded with the next six points on four points by Quaid Marshall and a basket by Cade Verschoot.
Bainville tied the game on a drive by Wilson and gained a lead on a free throw by Berwick. After Fulton scored for the Fusion, the Bulldogs went back ahead, 36-35, on a drive by Wilson with 1:10 left.
A free throw by Holden Salivar put the margin at 3735 with 22 seconds remaining. The Fusion missed four shots in the game’s final 12 seconds.
