Boys basketball roundup: The BOLD Warriors mount a big comeback

Dec. 3—BIRD ISLAND — BOLD trailed Central Minnesota Christian School by 12 points with about five minutes to go before completing a late-game comeback to win 84-79 on Friday.

The Warriors started strong by scoring the first seven points of the game, but saw their lead slip away as CMCS went into halftime with a 42-35 lead.

BOLD never gave up as the clock continued to tick, facing adversity head on to come back and start the season with a 1-0 record.

"You look forward to playing some of those games to see how (the kids) are going to respond," BOLD head coach Jake Brustuen said. "Not sure you want that in game one but credit to (the kids) for getting the win."

BOLD's comeback effort was led by one of their seniors, forward Ryan King. King scored a team-best 32 points, knocking down two three-pointers and notching two steals.

"Ryan had some big steals down the stretch. Offensively, he went to work," Brustuen said. "He hit a couple shots from outside and was consistent. He played a ton of minutes and just kept fighting."

King contributed highly to a night that saw four Warriors record at least 10 points.

Alongside King, sophomore guard Jack Gross tallied 25 points, junior forward Andrew Meyers recorded 13 and sophomore forward William Penkert had 10.

"We had some lapses on defense that we want to clean up, but for game one that is to be expected," Brustuen said. "They just found a way, which was huge."

CMCS senior forward Ethan Bulthuis put in an all-around performance in a Bluejays' effort that fell short. He shot 43 percent from the field, making 14 of 32 shots with six of them being three-pointers, and recorded team-highs in rebounds (10), steals (3) and blocks (1).

CMCS made 16 three-pointers. The Bluejays' best shooter beyond the arc was sophomore guard Drew Duininck. He made four threes on six attempts.

BOLD hits the road to face Melrose Area at 7:15 p.m. Friday. CMCS plays host to Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.

CMCS (0-1) 42 37 — 79

BOLD (1-0) 35 49 — 85

CMCS — Scoring: Ethan Bulthuis 35, Drew Duininck 14, Ryan Harrington 12, Brayden Marcus 9, Braelin Rime 6, Kadin Dehmlow 3 ... 3-point shots: Bulthuis 6, Duininck 4, Marcus 3, Rime 2, Dehmlow 1 ... Rebound leader: Bulthuis 10 ... Assist leader: Harrington 9 ... Steal leader: Bulthuis 3, Marcus 3 ... Block leader: Bulthuis 1

BOLD — Scoring: Ryan King 32, Jack Gross 25, Andrew Meyers 13, William Penkert 10, Brayden Gass 4 ... 3-point shots: Gross 3, King 2, Penkert 2 ... Rebound leader: Penkert 10 ... Assist leader: none ... Steal leader: Gross 2, King 2 ... Block leader: none

Using a balanced attack, Paynesville locked up a non-conference win over Pine City in Paynesville.

Brayden Pung, Eli Nelson and Gus Johnson all had nine points for the Bulldogs. Max Athmann, Abe Brunner and Blayke Pung each finished with eight points.

Pine City (0-1) 28 20 — 40

Paynesville (2-0) 27 33 — 60

PINE CITY — Scoring: Isaiah Hasz 5, Luke Wilson 26, Lamont Sydney 5, Mason Charles 11, Riley Cummings 1

PAYNESVILLE — Scoring: Brayden Pung 9, Eli Nelson 9, Gus Johnson 9, Grayson Fuchs 5, Max Athmann 8, Abe Brunner 8, Bryce VanderBeek 4, Blayke Pung 8

Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg held on to win its home-opener over Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City. The Fighting Saints led 32-22 at halftime, but ACGC came back, hitting 14 three-pointers, all in the second half.

"It was a game of runs," KMS head coach Matt Fragodt said. "We weren't able to put ACGC away. They shot really well. I was really proud that we came away with a win with this young team. We have a lot of work to do defensively. You've got to give ACGC a lot of credit, too. They hit a lot of big shots."

KMS was led by DeAndre Holloway and Isaac Rudningen. Holloway had 24 points, 10 rebounds and eight blocked shots. Rudningen added 22 points, six rebounds, six assists and four steals.

Kyler Pickle and Thor Goerish each had 22 points for the Falcons. Pickle hit six three-pointers and Goerisch had four treys.

ACGC (0-0) 22 47 — 69

KMS (0-0) 32 40 — 72

ACGC — Scoring: Kyler Pickle 22, Sam Rouser 6, Marcus Forsythe 11, Jonas Morrison 8, Thor Goerish 22 ... 3-point shots: Pickle 6, Rouser 2, Goerish 4 ... Rebound leader: n/a ... Assist leader: n/a ... Steal leader: n/a ... Block leader: n/a

KMS — Scoring: Jacob Walsh 2, Jaiden Henjum 9, Isaac Rudningen 22, Malachi Lee 1, DeAndre Holloway 24, Hunter Kallstrom 14 ... 3-point shots: Holloway 2 ... Rebound leader: Holloway 10, Rudningen 6 ... Assist leader: Rudningen 6 ... Steal leader: Rundingen 4 ... Block leader: Holloway 8.

Westbrook-Walnut Grove defended its home court successfully as the Chargers beat Yellow Medicine East in Westbrook.

The Sting have their home debut Tuesday against Red Rock Central.

Community Christian School opened the Coulee Christian Tournament with a victory over Mountain Top Christian, located in Horicon, Wisconsin.

Coulee Christian is in West Salem, Wis.

Will Chapin had 14 points and five assists and Jonathan Reid added 13 points for the Eagles.

CCS (3-0) 31 24 — 55

Mountain Top 15 11 — 26

CCS — Scoring: Will Chapin 14, Jonathan Reid 13, Kody Tollefsrud 9, Gavin Mulder 8, Mark Arnold 7, Zephaniah Bonnema 2, Ben Reinertson 2 ... 3-point shots: Reid 2, Tollefsrud 1 ... Rebound leader: Mulder 12 ... Assist leader: Chapin 5, Arnold 5 ... Steal leader: Arnold 5 ... Block leader: Mulder 1

MOUNTAIN TOP — Scoring: Anthony Breiman 10, Joel Beauprey 2, Michael Rush 8, Jeremiah Beauprey 3, Ronny Becker 3 ... 3-point shots: Je. Beauprey 1, Becker 1 ... Rebound leader: n/a ... Assist leader: n/a ... Steal leader: n/a ... Block leader: n/a