The Brandon-Evansville boys basketball team went to the home court of the defending Class A state champions on Saturday afternoon and pushed Henning as much as the Hornets have been pushed all season.
Both teams were undefeated going into the game, but the top-ranked Hornets (5-0) were the ones who stayed that way by grabbing a 60-49 win over B-E (4-1).
“I thought we played out of control and rushed our way through things in the first half,” Chargers head coach Trent Hintermeister said. “We talked at halftime about playing more of our game and not letting them dictate the way we wanted to do things. We played better in the second half, less turnovers, gave up less offensive rebounds, and scored easier due to better decision making.”
Brandon-Evansville scored just 12 points in the first 18 minutes and found itself down 16 at the break. The Chargers regrouped and put up 37 points in the second half, but the deficit was too much to overcome.
Senior forward Tanner Bitzan led B-E with 15 points, including 11 after halftime. Marshall Riedel and Keagan Schiele each had 11 points. Henning’s Blaine Wallevand led all scorers with 19. Luke Bjorklund added 15 for the Hornets, and Isaac Fisher had 10.
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These two teams won’t meet again unless it happens in the Section 6A tournament, and that’s exactly what Hintermeister hopes to see.
“Henning is a great basketball team,” he said. “They play the game fast and can do a lot of things most high school basketball teams can't. I can only hope we get to play them again.”
HENNING 28 32 - 60
B-E 12 37 - 49
SCORING - HENNING - Parker Fraki - 5; Blake Wallevand - 2; Isaac Fisher - 10; Luke Bjorklund - 15; Blaine Wallevand - 19; Brandon Trana - 9
B-E - Marshall Riedel - 11; Tyler Bitzan - 5; Kobe Rieland - 2; Keagan Schiele - 11; Jesse Perleberg - 1; Tanner Bitzan - 15; Titus Fuller - 4
