Jacks' defense stands out against Grand Rapids at 218 Sports Showcase

Feb. 12—BEMIDJI — Playing a high school game at a Division-I level arena like the Sanford Center was going to be special for the Bemidji High School girls basketball team no matter what the result.

But it was made even more special the way the Lumberjacks played against Grand Rapids.

The Jacks dominated their way past the Thunderhawks, 65-23, in the second game of the 218 Basketball Showcase quadrupleheader at the Sanford Center on Thursday. The BHS boys played Grand Rapids earlier, before Bemidji State's men's and women's teams took on Northern State.

As is often the case in a Lumberjack win, defense led the way. But most importantly, it was a special experience for the players to play in such a unique venue.

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience for our kids," head coach Darin Schultz said. "It's just special and I'm so grateful that we were able to make this happen. ... Our seniors were able to be on the court at the same time and go for a run together. We were able to get some other players in and they got a lot of time. Everybody got to be a part of this experience today, which, at the end of the day, I'm just so grateful."

The Jacks needed some time to adjust to the new venue. On Wednesday, BHS had an hour-long practice to get used to the new sights and sounds on the Sanford Center court.

"The depth perception when you're shooting is way different than it normally is, but we really got the feel for it last night," senior Liv Thompson said. "We did a bunch of shooting drills for an hour, and by the end of the night, we were like, 'It was fun.'"

It still took time for Bemidji to get used to things early against the Thunderhawks. Even though it jumped out to a 14-8 lead to begin the game, it had struggles with consistently getting baskets on offense.

That changed near the 10-minute mark of the first half. After a timeout, Bemidji's defense — led by Thompson — started to get more aggressive, giving BHS more opportunities on offense. The strategy worked wonders, with Bemidji going on a 20-4 run to end the half.

"I think there is a little sense of when the ball isn't going in, we need to pick up our game somewhere else, and we did that tonight," Schultz said. "(We) picked it up on the defensive end, we're able to get our hands and deflections on a lot of balls and be able to get out, transition and score a little bit easier to help break things open early."

Bemidji's dominance bled into the second half. Schultz sent in an all-senior lineup, and later subbed in everyone else on the bench who didn't have any playing time. It was important for everyone on the team to get a taste of the unique experience, Schultz said.

Karley LaZella led the Jacks in points with 15, 13 of which came in the first half. She was followed closely by Anysia Pink with 12 points, while Sherwood and Thompson with 11.

The Jacks have two more games on the regular-season schedule: their second 218 Sports Showcase game on Saturday against Cloquet and Feb. 19 at Moorhead.

Since Jan. 13, the Jacks have been playing .500 basketball, going 4-4 in that span. With Thursday's win over Grand Rapids, BHS hopes to get positive, game-winning momentum heading into the Section 8-4A Tournament.

"I feel like we're playing some of our best basketball right now," Thompson said. "We're playing with a lot of energy. This is the closest we've been. We're making that extra pass, we're coming out every game just wanting to win, pushing really hard."

"We're feeling really ready for the playoffs."

For Schultz and the Lumberjacks, however, Thursday was a special day that doesn't come around often.

"If there's one word I can put into it, it's grateful for all the people that made this happen," Schultz said. "To give our girls some lasting memories that will last them a lifetime."

Bemidji 65, Grand Rapids 22

GR 12 11 — 22

BHS 34 31 — 65

Bemidji — LaZella 15, Pink 12, A. Thompson 11, Sherwood 11, Daman 5, McKeon 3, Bokovoy 2, M. Thompson 2, Wilde 2, Christiansen 2.

Grand Rapids — Cash 9, Pogoreic 7, Sisco 4, Ruzynski 2, Alleman 1.