Boys basketball season ends in Cass Lake

Early last week, Monday, March 4th, the Chargers hosted the Lake of the Woods Bears in Grygla for the play-in game. GG defeated the Bears 58-35 and Head Coach Andrew Sundberg said the Chargers came out to play! “We were able to jump out on the Bears right away led by our pressure defense and transition offense. I thought we moved the ball very well against their zone and got good shots in the first half, and we got many steals which lead to some easier scoring opportunities. Dylan, Jake and Jaden did an excellent job in the front of the press being very active and aggressive. We took a 33-9 lead into halftime. I didn’t think we played as well in the second half, but we were able to keep the lead about the same. It was nice for the seniors to get a win on the final home game of their careers,” said Sundberg.

Stats from that game: Jake Tharaldson (24 pts, 3 reb, 3 steals), Hudson McMillin (12 pts, 2 blocks), Kaleb Sjulestad (8 pts, 7 reb, 3 asst), Riley Manderud (4 pts, 2 reb), Dylan Wold (3 pts, 4 reb, 5 asst, 3 steals), Levi Kiesow (3 pts), Jaden Kiesow (2 pts, 3 reb), Aaron Jones (2 pts), Lucian Tinnnes (2 reb), Moses Jensen (3 reb, 2 steals).

Monday’s victory sent the Chargers to Cass Lake on Thursday, March 7th, for their first playoff game. After losing by 22 points, the 2018-19 season officially came to an end.

Coach Sundberg remarked, “We knew we had our work cut out for us, playing against the top seed in the section and the #2 ranked team in the state. However, the Chargers showed up ready to battle. We hung around, played extremely hard, and executed our game plan pretty well throughout the first half. Kaleb hit a long, last second 3 pointer at the halftime buzzer and we trailed at halftime only 33-25. In the second half, the Panthers turned up their defensive intensity and we weren’t able to take care of the ball well enough to hang in the game. Despite the result, I couldn’t be prouder of how the kids competed in this game. We were huge underdogs, but the kids played like they expected to do well and definitely were not going to be outworked.”

Cass Lake-Bena beat the Chargers that night 72-50. Stats from that game: Hudson McMillin (14 pts, 3 reb, 2 steals), Jake Tharaldson (14 pts, 3 reb), Jaden Kiesow (6 pts, 6 asst, 3 reb), Dylan Wold (5 pts, 2 reb), Riley Manderud (4 pts), Kaleb Sjulestad (3 pts, 5 reb, 3 asst), Peyton Verbout (2 pts), Aaron Jones (2 pts), Moses Jensen (3 reb), Payton Grandstrand (2 reb).

Sundberg concluded, “The Chargers were extremely appreciative of the fan turnout to the game. I think there were just as many, if not more, Charger fans at the game than Cass Lake fans! We have enjoyed tremendous fan support all season, and we would like to thank the communities for that. I would like to thank our seniors Jaden, Jake, Kaleb, Peyton, Payton, Dylan, Aaron, and Lucian for all of your hard work and commitment throughout your basketball careers. They are all impressive young men who have bright futures ahead of them!”