In two previous meetings this season, the Northern Freeze and the Kittson County Central Bearcats split in their Boy’s Basketball games. The Freeze won the season opener, and the Bearcats took a victory during the Russ Smith Holiday Tournament. Game #3, between these top contenders in Section 8A, was played Thursday night in Karlstad…and a large and vociferous crowd gave this regular season game a play-off feel. When the dust settle the Bearcats claimed a 64 to 52 Section 8, and Conference victory on the road.
Prior to the game both coaches noted that their teams would have to be able to hand the physical play of the other, and that’s exactly how things played out. It wasn’t the prettiest basketball, but the organized chaos occasionally produced and outstanding play by both teams. For the second consecutive game the Freeze were with-out the services of Senior forward Nick Olson (strained knee). Although Olson had been cleared to play, Coach Zach Green, had the bigger picture in mind and decided to keep Olson side-lined.
After a couple of lead changes and ties, the KCC Bearcats would break open a two possession game, and go up by 11 (34-23) at half-time. The Northern Freeze would start the second half with an 8-0 run and close-within a possession with 13 minutes to play. The big Freeze comeback powered by the play of Senior Beau Bothum who tallied 19 of the 21 points in the second stanza. The Freeze would take their only lead of the second half, 45-43, with about 5 minutes to play. However the aggressive nature of the game caught up with the Northern Freeze, who eventually saw three players foul out in the final two minutes, and the KCC Bearcats were good from the free-throw line. KCC would go 9-for-10 from the foul line in the final minutes to put the game away and claim the win. While the Freeze would hold an edge on rebounding, the Bearcats had a balanced offensive attack that kept the Freeze on their heels.
Kittson County Central Bearcats improves to 9-and-5 with the win, now 8-and-1 in Section 8 standing. The Bearcats will be back in action on Friday, January 27th at the Roseau Tournament.
The loss drops the Northern Freeze to 9-and-3 overall, 7-and-2 in Section play. The Freeze season also continues on Friday, January 27th at Goodridge/Grygla. The Chargers vs Freeze game is scheduled to be broadcast on KKDQ 99.3 FM.
Scoring Summary
Kittson County Central
Derek Coffield – 21 points, 12 rebounds
Zach Rynning – 12 points, 11 rebounds
Blake Nelson – 12 points, 7 rebounds
Trevor Deere – 11 points, 2 rebounds
Blayne Davis – 4 points, 3 rebounds
Riley Davis – 4 points, 1 rebound
Wyatt Johnson – 3 points, 2 rebounds
Northern Freeze
Beau Bothum – 21 points, 15 rebounds
Dillon Dahl – 14 points, 6 rebounds
Kade Klasen – 6 points, 7 rebounds
Dustin Dahl – 5 points, 4 rebounds
Jarad Nelson – 2 points, 4 rebounds
Jordan Nelson – 2 points, 3 rebounds
Kyle Hestekind – 2 points, 2 rebounds
