Braham's State Journey Ends in Consolation Final

Braham made the State Tournament after winning the Section 5A Championship over Pine River-Backus!

On the 1st day of the tournament they, as the 8th seed, took on the number team at state, Mountain Iron-Buhl. The start of this game was less than ideal, they struggled with turnovers and couldn't quite find their footing. But it was more than understandable, they were trying to take in the moment of being at State. Once they worked through the jitters they started to look like themselves. They were down 30+ points at the half, but they outscored the Rangers 40-22 in the 2nd and had the deficit down to 9 points. Sadly, it wasn't enough as MIB came out on top 75-62.

With the loss their state journey wasn't over, they just moved to the consolation bracket. So on Friday they played at Concordia St. Paul's Gangelhoff Center! They battled against New Richland-H-E-G. They got off to a hot start in this game, jumping out to a 12-2 lead. But then turnovers started to pile up as did some fouls. Three of their 5 starters ended the half with three fouls. Although the Panthers had gone on a big scoring run to take over the lead, the Bombers kept it close trailing at half 33-29. The dealt with some turnover trouble to begin the 2nd half, but that's when they turned the tide. They got back into rhythm, their defense grabbed some takeaways and the offense turned those into quick transition points. While they trailed by 10, that was swiftly erased and they had taken the lead back. Late in the game they had brought their lead back to double digits and NRHEG had no choice but to foul to save time. The Bombers were almost perfect from the free throw line which helped them grow the lead and eventually get the victory 80-65.

Now they were in the Consolation Championship for Class A. The last game of the season, would be played against the same team they began the season against, Mayer Lutheran. It felt like a storybook ending for an amazing season. The teams battled hard and it was clear it was going to be a low scoring affair. The Bombers trailed at the half 22-17. The 2nd half was once again a grind. The defenses of both teams were relentless and the offenses couldn't get into rhythm. The Bombers kept themselves within a couple possessions of the Crusaders lead and once again late in the half they forced Mayer Lutheran into foul trouble putting them at the free throw line. Sadly, the free throws just weren't falling the way they had the day prior. They gave everything they had but came up just short in the end 47-42.

This team has had an awesome journey! Congrats to them on a great season!

Congrats to the Seniors: Avery Shockman, Emily Davis, Makenzie and Bridget Golly and Jenna Beck on their careers!

Morgan Rysdam was named a Class A All State Tournament player!