CLUTCH FREE THROWS AND LATE RUN SECURE STEPHEN-ARGYLE BOYS BASKETBALL A WIN OVER KITTSON COUNTY CENTRAL

The Stephen-Argyle Storm Boys Basketball team hosted the Kittson County Central Bearcats on Monday night, in what was both teams first game of 2022. It was a close game the whole way, and Stephen-Argyle went on a run late and made their free throws to earn a 64-59 victory. “Haven’t had a ton of time to digest it yet, but it always feels good to come away with a victory,” said Storm Head Coach Nevin Lubarski. “We knew we were in for a fight all night against a rival and I’m really proud of how our boys played.”

FIRST HALF –

The Bearcats came out and were able to score the first four points of the game before a Storm three-pointer made it 4-3 Kittson County Central. The Bearcats then scored the next six points to build a 10-3 lead with just under 13 minutes remaining in the first half. Stephen-Argyle continued to battle back the rest of the half, pulling within two points at 15-13 with 7 minutes remaining until halftime. The teams then traded a few baskets until a couple of scores from the Bearcats made it 22-17. The Storm then proceeded to go on a 6-0 scoring run to take their first lead of the night at 23-22 with just over 2 minutes remaining in the first half. Five points during the run were from Shay Setterholm getting his first career varsity start. “He had a great game tonight. I love to see that as a coach because he is the kind of guy that is the first one in the gym and one of the last ones to leave,” said Storm Head Coach Nevin Lubarski. “It was a fun night for him. We had a lot of guys that stepped up tonight, and he was certainly one of them.” The Bearcats responded with a three, and after another Setterholm basket, the game was tied at 25-25. Each team added one more score and went into the locker room tied at 27-27. Stephen-Argyle was led by William McGlynn in the first half with 10 points, and Braden Faken led Kittson County Central with 13 first-half points.

SECOND HALF –

The second half started the same way the first half did, with the Bearcats scoring the first four points and the Storm followed with a three making it 31-30 Kittson County Central. The teams traded a few buckets back and forth and the lead never got to be more than 7 points for either team the entire second half. The Bearcats eventually took a 49-46 lead with just over six minutes remaining, and that is when the Storm would respond and take control of the game. The Storm would go on a 10-0 run over the next four minutes to take a 56-49 lead with just over 2 minutes left to play. After the teams traded baskets making the score 58-51, the Bearcats refused to go away, going on a 5-0 scoring run of their own to pull the score within two points as the Storm held on to a slim lead at 58-56 with 47 seconds remaining. However, that was as close as the Bearcats could get, as the Storm would make six free- throws in the final 47 seconds and hang on to win 64-59. “We are a young team and we built on some intangibles tonight,” said Storm Head Coach Nevis Lubarski. “We played a team game tonight and hopefully that gives us some momentum the rest of the way this season.”

Stephen-Argyle improves to 3-5 on the season with the win, and Kittson County Central drops to 1-5 with the loss.