BISMARCK — Before facing the unknown of its side of the Heritage/Bismarck-Henning/Rossville-Alvin Holiday Basketball Tournament, the host Blue Devils faced a familiar foe to start the tournament.
BHRA was able to defeat fellow Vermilion Valley Conference member Milford 63-31 to start the tournament on Thursday.
“We wanted to come out early and set the tone,” BHRA coach Gary Tidwell said. “We had a day off because of Christmas and we have a lot of games in the next few days so we wanted to set the pace and we did it early and get things off transition and everything flowed smoothly. It was a good start to the weekend.”
Tidwell said that the defense was the key to get the flow of the game starting.
“Our defense was outstanding. We got into passing lanes and we were able to pen things up. I thought in all facets we did very well,” Tidwell said. “Our guards handled the ball well and I thought Andy Thomas came in and did a great job defensively. We were able to contest every shot. I think they had 12 points at halftime, so I was pleased with our defensive output and we didn’t let up.”
Keison Peoples had 17 points to lead the Blue Devils, while Micah Stanford had nine, Ethan Dubois and Chaz Dubois each had seven and Thomas and Darin Farr each added six. By the midpoint of the third quarter, the Blue Devils were sitting the starters.
“We kept the pressure up and that’s what you like in tournaments like this,” Tidwell said. “With playing five games in three days, you want to play as many people as you can.”
Mario Martinez had seven for Milford, while Beau Wright had five and Issac Schaumburg and Jack VanHoveln each had four.
The Blue Devils then played the first of three straight teams from the Indianapolis area in the tournament on Thursday night. BHRA beat Indianapolis Phalen Academy 66-56 as Peoples had 35, Stanford and Chaz Dubois each had nine, Thomas had seven and Caden Keleminic added six.
“We have some athletic teams from Indianapolis coming and and it gives us a different look, which we like,” Tidwell said. “We just need to be ready to go, stay disciplined and avoid any let downs.”
The Blue Devils will play the other two Indianapolis teams — Providence Cristo Ray and Irvington Prep — on Friday.
Armstrong-Potomac took a big step to getting to Bismarck on Saturday with two wins in the Heritage side of the tournament.
The Trojans beat Salt Fork 49-37 in their first game as Luke Townsend had 17 points, James Huisinga had 15 and Bowen Hesterberg added seven.
Grant Wilson and Jameson Remole each had 10 points for the Storm, while Ian Church and Ian Keller each had six and Gavin Holmes added five.
The Trojans would then beat host Heritage 81-62. Huisinga had 21 points, while Edwards had 20, Hesterberg had 15 and Townsend added 12.
Salt Fork beat Georgetown-Ridge Farm 32-22 in the first game on Thursday as Holmes and Remole each had eight, Keller had seven and Wilson added six.
A’John Watson had eight points for the Buffaloes, while Jase Latoz had six and Deven Vice added four.
Geo-RF would drop to 0-2 in the tournament with a 49-41 loss to Mount Pulaski. Vice had 17 points, while Watson had 12 and Latoz added five.
The Trojans will play Mount Pulaski and Georgetown-Ridge Farm on Friday, while the Buffaloes will play Heritage and the Storm will take on Mount Pulaski and Heritage.