At the conclusion of BVNW’s win at sub-state last weekend, senior David Salach predicted that playing in the state tournament before would be an advantage for the Huskies. He was right. The team went on to defeat Wichita North by 20 points in their first state game, 65-44, and advanced to the semifinals tomorrow.

The Huskies jumped to an early lead, going on a 12-0 run that featured multiple steals and transition layups from seniors Ben Richardson, Kyle Harrison and Clayton Custer. Wichita North did not score until one of its members was fouled on a backdoor cut by Richardson and sunk both free throws midway through the first quarter. At the end of the first quarter the Redskins had only added on 6 more points to the Huskies 9, and BVNW lead 21-8.

“We played hard. We played really good defense in the first half and got out into a big lead,” Custer said. “We just kind of rode it out from there.”

Both teams went scoreless for the first few possessions of the second quarter, and head coach Ed Fritz called a timeout after Custer threw the ball away to devise a game plan. On the following possession, Custer was fouled on a drive to the basked and netted both free throws. Neither the Huskies or the Redskins were able to connect on their outside shots, the difference being BVNW made up for their shooting with transition plays and offensive rebounds for second chances.

“We got off to a great start,” Fritz said. “We did a great job rebounding tonight, especially on the offensive glass. I felt really good about that.”

The Huskies hit the locker room after the first half in a comfortable lead, 35-14.

North scored a layup to open the second half, and while they tried to keep up with the well conditioned Husky team, they had dug too big of a hole for themselves. According to seniors Vince Fritz and Custer, the team just grinded out the second half after establishing a big lead during the first. The Huskies hit two of their four threes during the third quarter, one by Custer and one by Fritz.

“I was one of the ones hitting shots today I guess,” Vince, the leading scorer, said. “We only had four threes throughout the entire game. So were a little off shooting. It doesn’t matter who leads in scoring, we all do a great job of finding each other.”

The Huskies entered the fourth quarter, leading 49-28. Wichita North never game within 20 points of BVNW’s lead, and Custer said the team did a good job doubling down and stopping the Redskins big men and getting stops.

“We need to make some more shots,” Custer said. “We didn’t shoot the ball from the three very well. We only made three or four threes today. Usually that’s how it’s been in the past too, once we get used to playing on this floor we normally shoot a bit better so hopefully that will happen this year too.”

Vince agreed with Custer, and said the team needs to improve on getting into passing lanes and turning their defense into offense.

“We communicated well,” Vince said. “We really knew their plays and got out and ran with each other well in transition. We played hard defensively.”

Fritz said shooting improvement is a must if the Huskies plan to play well tomorrow.

“We’re going to play a quality opponent tomorrow,” Fritz said. “Maize is a really good basketball team and we’re going to have to play really well to win tomorrow.”