The Bruin boys varsity team left the first half of the season behind with a bad taste in their mouth and the long ride to Douglas High School Friday afternoon gave them a lot of time to think about it. In the first meeting of league play between the Douglas Trojans and the Bruins we the fans were treated to an OT barn burner that the Bruins would win 58-51.
Well, Friday night it seemed that Douglas didn’t forget that and were determined to return the favor. Douglas jumped out with a fast-paced tempo perhaps trying to catch the Bruins off guard or unprepared. The tactic worked in the beginning of the first period as the Bruins struggled to find their legs and get points on the board early.
Fortunately, as junior forward Luke Beaman #11 collected 2 early first period fouls, junior guard Brig Schofield #32 had the hot hand hitting a 3 pointer from the corner getting the Bruins on the scoreboard. As the Trojans ran on the Bruins it was Schofield again who hit the baseline corner 3 followed by Junior guard Austin Fronckowiak #2 with another 3 pointer from the top of the key. Junior center, Jon Kleespies #20 hit from the inside as the Bruins could only muster 11 points in the first period. The Trojans ran up their score to 21 in the first behind two players hitting for 8 points in the period.
During the break as Coach Gonzales would realize and later say “We got down early because of foul trouble and our bench came in and kept it close”, the Bruins needed big play from the bench for an extended period of time. Senior guard Gabe Barneburg #24 and senior forward Jake Christensen #21 would come in for significant minutes in the second trailing the Trojans by 10 points. Both would hit baskets in the quarter as Austin Fronckowiak stepped up and hit a 3 pointer and a basket for 5 in the period, junior guard Eli Mills hit a bucket and went 2 for 2 from the line. Jon Kleespies got to line and hit his 2 free throws as the Bruins put 15 points on the board in the period.
The Bruins defense held the Trojans to just 10 points in the period as the bench players came up big cutting the Douglas lead to just 5 points as the teams went to the halftime break 31-26.
The third period would be a different story as a determined and energized Bruin team would take the floor a jump on a Trojan team that struggled against a stifling Bruin defense that wouldn’t allow easy drives to the basket. The Bruin offense went on a 6 point run to take the lead with 4:00 minutes left in the third period. Brig Schofield took over the game in the third, hitting two 3 pointers a bucket and going 4 for 4 from the line in the period. Fronckowiak, Mills, and Kleespies all added buckets in the period and Luke Beaman #11 finally got on the board with a 3 pointer of his own.
The Bruin defense deployed a full press late in the third period and held the Trojans to just 13 points in the quarter as the Bruins turned the tables putting 21 points up taking a 47-44 lead into the fourth.
In the fourth period Bruins junior center big Jon Kleespies took control of the paint defensively forcing the Trojans to shoot from the outside while offensively scoring a bucket and going 5 for 6 from the line. Mills fearlessly drove into the lane hitting a mid-range jumper and going 2 of 4 from the line. Fronckowiak hit for 2 points and was perfect from the line hitting both of his free throws and Schofield added 2 more to his total on the night.
But the Trojans were not going to go away easily as the Trojans cut the lead to 3 with 1:47 to play. With 13 seconds left on the clock Douglas would drive into the paint and miss a Kleespies contested lay-up only to get their own rebound and put it back up for the tie sending the game to overtime between these two teams for the second time in the same season.
In the overtime period Fronckowiak hit a 3 pointer and hit 1 of 2 from the line and Kleespies went 1 of 2 from the line scoring 5 points in the OT period sending the Bruins home with the 71-70 win.
After the game Coach Gonzales commented “We got down early because of foul trouble and our bench came in and kept it close. They came up huge! Jake, Mike, Gabe, and Evan finished the 1st half and played well. Brig, Austin, and Jon played very well. We did a good job of getting them the ball in position to make shots”.
Junior guard Brig Schofield #32 and junior guard Austin Fronckowiak #2 both hit for 21 points on the night, junior center Jon Kleespies #20 added 14 points, junior guard Eli Mills #3 scored 10 and junior guard Luke Beaman #11 added 4 points in the 71-70 OT win.
The Bruins are on the road next Tuesday in a match-up against the 1-5 Siuslaw Vikings.
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