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Broncos pull away late from Jets

Todd Rose | Daily Press Bark River-Harris’ Joey Stein (33) shoots a layup over North Central’s Ian Gorzinski (4) Friday at Bark River.

HARRIS — The Bark River-Harris Broncos boys basketball team (9-0) continued its undefeated streak Friday night with a 76-61 win against the North Central Jets (1-5) in Harris.

“We knew this was going to be a battle coming in … it is when you play North Central,” said Broncos coach Marc Zawacki. “They’re going to get our best game, and they’re going to give us theirs.

“I think it was a pretty good win.”

The Jets opened up the game strong, pulling away to a 12-3 lead before the halfway mark of the first quarter. Over the last 4:24 of the first, however, the Broncos went on a 14-1 run to take the lead 17-13 to end the quarter. Bark River held that edge into the locker room. 30-27.

“We pulled in and switched up our defense a little bit,” said Zawacki about changes made after the slow start. “I think it threw them off-kilter a little bit. Really, if you look at the whole game, that is probably what the difference was. We came back, took the lead, and I don’t think gave it up after that.”

While the Broncos never did lose their lead, they came close in the third as Jesse Sampson and Bradey Anderson put up a two and three, respectively, for the Jets to tie the game at 32.

As that happened, big hitter for the Broncos, Trenton Wood-Keshick found himself in foul trouble, going to the bench with four.

As has been the case in the past, Zawacki said, the rest of the Broncos stepped up as they went on an 11-point run.

“That’s what we need, and that’s what I tell the guys: ‘when I call upon you, I need you, the team needs you,'” he said. “They’re doing that. They’re accepting those roles and stepping up.”

Zawacki mentioned Dylon Lippens as someone who had good minutes in the game.

“That young man is going to go in and do the dirty work,” he said. “You may not always see it on the stat sheet or scoreboard, but he’s creating some problems for the other team.”

Nick Javurek led the Broncos in scoring with 22 points. Joey Stein had 17, Wood-Keshick 16 and Carter Zawacki 10.

A loss against the Broncos is a painful one for North Central Jets’ coach Mike Malone.

“This one hurts. This one always hurts,” Malone said. “We’ve come up on the losing end the last few times here, and it’s a difficult loss … It’s a rival, and we wanted it bad. Sometimes you come up short.”

Regardless of the scoreboard at the end of the game, Malone was happy with the Jets’ performance.

“They played their tails off,” he said. “They played super hard tonight. They know what kind of game this is. They come with their heart and soul every time we play Bark River.

“We did a lot of good things today … a lot of bad things, as well. We need to shore up before we get to a district. All in all, I’m, happy with the performance.”

Luke Gorzinski, at 24 points, was the leading scorer for North Central. Anderson had 14 with four triples. Carter Eichmeier also put up 10.

The Jets did take the win in the JV game, though, 56-31.

Bark River-Harris heads to Rapid River to play the Rockets Monday while the Jets host the Forest Park Trojans Tuesday in Powers.

North Central 13 14 10 24 — 61

Bark River-Harris 17 13 16 30 — 76

North Central — Luke Gorzinski 24, Anderson 14, Eichmeier 10, Sampson 7, Plunger 6; F: 21; FT: 13-16; Fouled out: Ian Gorzinski, Anderson; 3-point field goals: Anderson 4, Luke Gorzinski 2, Eichmeier, Plunger.

Bark River-Harris — Javurek 22, Stein 17, Wood-Keshick 16, Zawacki 10, Robinette 5, Trevor Lippens 2, Peterson 2, Dylon Lippens; F: 16; FT: 19-29; Fouled out: None; 3-point field goals: Stein 3, Javurek 2, Zawacki, Robinette.

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