The Bruin boys traveled to Coquille Tuesday to challenge the 8-5, #22 ranked Red Devils in the first round of post-season play.
The Bruins jumped out to an early 8-5 lead midway through the first period running off of missed shots and Red Devil turnovers, but the Red Devils tightened their defense, closed the lane on senior point guard Josh Serna, who’s 8 points in the period were not enough to keep Coquille from closing the gap to end the first period in a 10-10 tie.
In the second period the Red Devils defense crowded the lane in a desperate attempt to slow Serna, which resulted in Serna collecting 3 fouls, forcing head coach Brandon Hodges to keep his leading scorer on the bench for much of the period. The Bruin boys played well under the basket collecting rebounds and scoring inside taking back the lead at the 1:40 mark of the period, only to trail 23-20, at the half-time break.
Coming out of the break, the Red Devils went to the perimeter, hitting three consecutive 3 pointers to first tie and then take a lead that they would not relinquish into the fourth period.
In the fourth the Bruin boys fought to keep pace as Serna was forced to play conservatively to avoid collecting fouls. This forced the Bruin perimeter to hit challenged outside shots as the Red Devils overplayed the outlet pass off the drive. The Red Devils took advantage of the missed shots and went on a 3 point run that extended their lead to 10 points. The Bruin boys worked their way back to within 6 points halfway through the final period, however Coquille would finish strong taking the 45-55 win, extending their season to their next contest against Cascade Christian.
