Boys dominate Knights; beat Medford

After a first half that was closely contested the full 18 minutes, the Blooming Prairie boys basketball team scored 40 second half points to defeat Alden-Conger 71-57 on Saturday, Dec 12.  
The non-conference victory climaxed a rare Saturday doubleheader, with the Blossom girls playing the first game. The team evened its season record at 4-4
“It was a close first half as the home team used some aggressive floor play and strong rebounding to stay within a point at the half,” remarked Coach Nathan Piller. “We got into a little better rhythm in the second half, and our rebounding really picked up. We showed some good motivation and a desire to compete.”
Anthony Nelson counted 27 points on 13 of 22 shooting, and Marten Morem added 18 on 11 of 23 shots. Both Jake Ressler and Dawson Heuer added eighth points. Nelson handed out six assists and had six steals in the game, and Heuer added two assists and three steals. The team did have too many mistakes, turning the ball over 20 times and had only 24 rebounds in the contest.
BP junior varsity took a 32-12 halftime lead over Alden-Conger and coasted to a 41-25 victory. All 17 Blossoms had a chance to play in this game, and Cameron Kubista and Max Romeo counted 18 and nine points to lead the local scoring.
BP gets past Medford 
Getting by a pesky Medford Tiger five, the Blooming Prairie boys basketball team managed to split the week’s activities, as they outscored the visitors 71-62 on Friday, Dec. 11. 
With three of the five starters sophomores, the locals still found a way to subdue the Tigers.
 This time sophomore Marten Morem had the hot hand, as he scored 28 points, including six three-pointers. BP led only 7-0 after four minutes, but they outscored Medford 19-7 over the next five minutes to open up a 26-7 margin.  Nine of those points came from three straight treys from Morem.  BP led at the break 31-16.
The Blossoms kept the pressure up in the second half, twice upping the lead to 20 points, but the losers staged a late rally to get within 12 points twice in the last minute.  Reserves played the last two minutes for the home team.
Morem had nine rebounds to go along with his 28 points, and Anthony Nelson, though not the leading scorer for the locals the first game all season, did get 18 points and dished out three asssts.  Dawson Heuer had his best night of the season scoring 12 points and gathering in five rebounds. BP shot 48 percent for the night on  28-of-58 attempts.   
The team record went to 3-4 with the win.
The junior varsity team dropped a most exciting overtime contest 74-71 to the Tigers in a game that featured big runs by both teams.    Cory Rafdal made five treys and 21 points in the game; Cameron Kubista and Gabe Hagen had 14 and 10 points.
 Larks fly by BP
Senior Reid Buschmann poured in 33 points, including seven three-pointers as Grand Meadow raced past the Awesome Blossoms 80-52 at Grand Meadow on Thursday, Dec. 10.  
The Superlarks jumped to a big early lead and never let the locals into the game.
“We were beaten by a pretty good team,” commented Coach Nathan Piller. “We try to be the hardest-working, most energetic team, but we weren’t in this game. The winners brought great energy and great effort to the game, and our goal of improving each game got tested tonight.  Hopefully, we can learn from this experience.”
Grand Meadow scored 45 first half points to lead by 18 at the break, and they added 35 points in a prolific second half, as well.  Besides Buschmann’s 33 points, Terrel Rieken had 16, while Jake Ressler counted 12 and Anthony Nelson chipped in nine for the Blossoms.  The Blossoms shot 41 percent from the field on 20 of- 48 attempts, but the hosts shot even better.  Ressler also led the rebounding for BP with eight and a block, and Nelson handed out four assists.
This time the JV team defeated Grand Meadow 43-23.  Ten players scored points in this game, led by Trent Swenson with 11 and Hagen with 10.