Barnum Boys Bounce Hill City Moves To Semi-Finals

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Mar 10, 2012

Dwight Cadwell-NSO

MORA- Over the past five seasons, the Barnum Bombers have played sectional tournament games at Mora High School and has compiled a 5-2 record at Mora. On Saturday it was another victory, as the Bombers knocked off the Hornets of Hill City by a score of 63-49.

Barnum came out strong Saturday night opened with an 11-2 lead and never looked back as they picked up the Section 5A quarterfinal win. Both teams shot poorly in the first half with Barnum connecting only on 36% of their shots in the first frame.

Hill City shot only 31% from the floor and found the Bombers pressure defense unnerving as Hill City struggled to get anything going. Barnum, who hit on three long range bombs were aided by 19 rebounds in the first half that allowed Barnum several second chance points.

With Barnum leading 28-17 at halftime, they come out strong and went on a 17-8 run which increased the lead to 45-25 with less than 12 minutes to play. Hill City then called timeout and the Hornets stepped up the pressure, which along with some missed shots by Barnum, the Hornets cut the Barnum lead down to 53-44.

With Hill City having the momentum; Barnum decided to slow the ball down offensively, and with that tactic the clock starting to dwindle the Hornets were forced to foul and send Barnum to the free throw line. Barnum’s last 14 points came from the free throw line Saturday night as they sealed the quarterfinal win and move to the semi-finals of Section 5A.

The Bombers were led by Jacob Naslund, who finished with 21 points. Danny Warpula added 15, Brandon Newman added 7, Bobby Minkkinen chipped in with 6, Samuel Anderson and Jaxson Turner both had 4, and Branden King and Rodney Mullen, Jr. both had 3 points for the Bombers.

The Hornets were led by Austin Lamke, who scored 15 points, Tim Benson added 12, Jacob Swing chipped in with 10 points, Dylan Okrup added 9 points and it was Jessie Mindrum who finished with 3 points for the Hornets. With the loss Hill City falls to 15-11 on the season.

The Bombers now improve to 23-5 on the season and they will face Royalton in the section semi-finals on Tuesday night back at Mora High School. The Royals defeated the Isle Huskies in quarterfinal play on Saturday night.

Dwight Cadwell can be reached at dwight@northlandsportsonline.com