CAIDEN SWENBY’S 32 POINTS LEADS FERTILE-BELTRAMI BOY’S BASKETBALL TO WIN OVER BLACKDUCK

The Fertile-Beltrami Falcons Boy’s Basketball team survived a late comeback attempt and held on to win 57-52 over the Blackduck Drakes from Ralph Engelstad Arena in Thief River Falls on Saturday. Caiden Swenby led the way for the Falcons scoring 32 points.

FIRST HALF –
Fertile-Beltrami opened the scoring a minute in on a Derek Sorenson three, and after Blackduck countered with a couple of baskets, the Falcons pulled ahead 7-4 on a score from Caiden Swenby. The Drakes would respond with a 7-0 run to take an 11-7 lead and it was capped off by a three by Leo Kingbird. Fertile-Beltrami would then dominate the final twelve minutes of the half which included a 21-0 run to take a 28-11 lead. Highlighting the run was Caiden Swenby with two three-pointers, and three free throws for 9 points, along with a three from Masen Nowacki, a layup from Isiah Wright, and free throws from Ryan Van Den Einde. The Drakes would finally put an end to the run with an and one with just over two minutes left, and add one more basket before the end of the half to cut the deficit to 28-16 going into the halftime break. The scoring drought for the Blackduck during the Falcons run was almost ten minutes long. Leading the way for Fertile-Beltrami in the first half were juniors Caiden Swenby and Derek Sorenson as they combined for 21 points. As a team, Fertile-Beltrami hit five first-half three-pointers. A big issue in the first half for Blackduck was foul trouble, as they had multiple players with 3+ fouls. With that being the case, Leo Kingbird was still able to score 7 points before having to exit the game because of the foul trouble. 

SECOND HALF –
Fertile-Beltrami opened the second half with a jumper by Swenby, and after a Blackduck layup, Sorenson countered with a jumper to give the Falcons a 32-18 lead. The defenses were the storyline in the early part of the half as the two teams struggled to find a rhythm, and after another Drakes timeout, it was 32-18 Fertile-Beltrami with 13:34 to play. After a Falcons layup and free throw from Isiah Wright, the Drakes would go on a 7-0 run and pull within ten points at 35-25. Caiden Swenby would end the run with an and-one, but after five more Blackduck points, the Falcons lead was cut to single digits at 38-30. after the Falcons converted on a basket, the Drakes would knock down a three to make it 40-33. Masen Nowacki would answer back with a three of his own and give the Falcons a 43-33 lead with 7:40 remaining. The Drakes just refused to go away and continued to trim the lead until they were within five points at 45-40 with 4:30 remaining. Every time the Falcons scored, the Drakes responded, and they got within two points at 47-45 after a few more layups. Caiden Swenby responded and took control for the Falcons scoring four straight points on nice drives to the basket, and that gave the Falcons a cushion in front 51-45 with two minutes left. After a Blackduck free throw, Masen Nowacki would cash in a jumper to give Fertile-Beltrami a 53-46 lead with 1:30 left to play. Falcons turnovers kept the Drakes in the game, and they would score four straight to give Fertile-Beltrami a 53-50 lead with under a minute left. After another Falcons turnover, the Drakes had a chance to tie the game with a three but came up empty giving Fertile-Beltrami a chance to make their free throws and close the game out. That is exactly what the Falcons would do, as Caiden Swenby would hit four free throws in the final twenty seconds to cap off his incredible performance of 32 points, to help give Fertile-Beltrami a 57-52 Section 8A victory over the Drakes.

Fertile-Beltrami improves to 4-1 on the season. Blackduck falls to 3-2 with the loss.

FOR FALCONS COACH NEIL STEFFES’S COMMENTS, CLICK BELOW