In a whirlwind of action which saw them play three games in four days and two within a 24-hour time period, the Belle Plaine boys’ basketball squad closed out its season earlier this week. The Plainsmen held off Sigourney on Friday, 46-44, then dropped a 58-48 decision at home to HLV on Saturday afternoon in a make-up contest.
Monday night, the Plainsmen traveled to Wellman, where they dropped a 65-36 decision to Mid-Prairie in the first round of district action.
Belle Plaine finished with a record of 10-12.
Against Sigourney, the Plainsmen started off slow, scoring eight first quarter points. They added 11 in the second quarter and 12 in the third.
Chris Janss led the team with 14 points and pulled down 18 rebounds. Ben Ehlen had a dozen points, three rebounds and eight assists. Keegan DeMeulenaere had six points, four rebounds and two assists. Cooper Northrop had six points and four rebounds. Seivon Steward finished with four points, a dozen rebounds and two assists. Mitch Jacobi and Kyle Janss each had two points. John Long had two rebounds.
The Plainsmen hit on 17 of 60 shots from the field and 10 of 12 free throws. They also had 44 rebounds and 15 turnovers.
Saturday afternoon, HLV jumped to a 23-14 first quarter lead and maintained a 39-30 halftime advantage. The Warriors scored only four points in the third quarter as the Plainsmen cut their lead to 43-41.
But HLV Coach Zach Tremmel said this was a big win for his team. “We had this game circled ever since they came into our house and handed us a two-point loss. We wanted to come out and prove we were the better team,” he said.
Chris Janss led the Plainsmen with 20 points and 12 rebounds, along with three steals. Ehlen had nine points, five rebounds and six assists. Northrop had six points and two steals. Steward had four points and six rebounds, Kyle Janss had four points, Long had three points and Jacobi added two.
For HLV, Brenden Kuesel had 19 points, Brandon Leonard had 14 and Bryce Kuesel added a dozen points.
The Plainsmen hit 19 of 55 from the field. They had 32 rebounds and just 10 turnovers.
At Mid-Prairie, the Plainsmen got off to a miserable start, scoring just two points in the first quarter and seven for the half. They added 14 in the third quarter.
Chris Janss finished his high school career with a 15-point night. He also had four rebounds and five steals. DeMeulenaere had eight points, four rebounds and a block. Kyle Janss had seven points, two assists and two rebounds. Long had two points, Northrop had two and two rebounds, Ehlen had two points, four rebounds, four assists and a block and Steward had three rebounds and two steals.
But the Plainsmen hit just 14 of 47 shots from the field, with 20 rebounds and 22 turnovers.
Coach Justin Northrop had a relatively young squad this year. He will lose only three seniors, but one of those seniors is the team’s leading scorer and rebounder, Chris Janss. The other two are Long and Steward.