Submitted by: Gregg Iverson

The last day of January had the Clearbrook-Gonvick Bears in town. If you remember from a few weeks ago, I reported on the game that was played in Clearbrook. That game was a track meet where the Bears ended up winning 100-95! Coach Hayden would be hoping for more of a defensive effort from his team this go around. I was at this game and it was a great game to watch. The first half started off with Roseau scoring the first two points and then the seesaw battle began. The Bears would take a one point lead, 7-6. The Rams would then take over the lead and would never relinquish it the rest of the game. Roseau would go on little scoring spurts here and there, but C-G would keep it within reach and come back a little bit here and there. The Rams would have a 10 pt lead at the half, up 40-30. Roseau came out of the locker room on a mission. Playing good defense and scoring on most possessions. About halfway through the second half the Rams would be up by 17, leading 64-47. In the previous meeting the Bears also had a 17 pt lead, but then the Rams came back. Deja vu, hello Bears! C-G would go on a 10-0 run and cut that lead back to 7, with the Rams up 64-57. Again, the Rams went on some little scoring spurts, only to be stopped by the Bears. But when it was all said and done, it was Roseau coming out on top of this one 83-75. Leading scorers for the Rams were Jere Bender 28, Jed Dunham 24 and Jace Hulst having a nice double/double, scoring 14 and pulling down 10 rebs. During this game David Nelson and a C-G player went after a loose ball, with the C-G player landing on top of David. Nelson let out a pain of agony holler, play was stopped, and David suffered a dislocated shoulder. Due to this, David is out for the season. David was one of the main ball handlers on the team and will be missed, I wish him a speedy and healthy recovery. Also out for the season is Aiden Walsh and Maverick Jacobson. Walsh is out due to a foot injury suffered at home and Jacobson due to an errant elbow in the teeth, which required some stringent dental work. Walsh added a physical aspect to the team and Maverick was a key player off the bench and could shoot the three ball pretty well. Both will be missed as well and I hope they recover well, too. These injuries just make me say “OUCH,” but we still have some of the basketball season to play.

Up next, the Rams traveled to EGF to take on the Greenwave on 2/7. This will also be a match up in the same north half of the section. These two teams met early on in the season in Roseau and the Greenwave came out victorious. In fact, EGF is undefeated in section play and only have one loss on the season, sitting at 19-1. Coach Hayden and the Rams would have a tough task ahead of them if they were going to upset the Greenwave. Not even going to try and sugar coat this one...it was a tough task indeed. EGF would score first and never looked back. There were some moments early in the first half where Roseau would be able to keep the score in check, but by halftime the Greenwave had a sizable, 51-28 lead. The second half was controlled by the Greenwave as well and they would win this one going away, 91-44. EGF is definitely one of the favorites to make it out of Section 8AA for a state berth. Too many turnovers, not the greatest of shooting percentages and just a tough team to beat, pretty much sums this one up. The only one in double figures for the Rams was, Jed Dunham with 16. On February 11th, Roseau would play host to another Bears team. This time it would be the LOW Bears. The Bears sure have had their past seasons of woes, and this year really hasn't been much different. The Rams would start out by scoring the first two points, but then LOW would take the lead with an opening 3 pointer. That was the first and only lead for the Bears this evening as Roseau would take care of business from there, leading 62-30 at the half. These are the type of games where Coach Hayden would have the pleasure in going to his bench early and often, giving those fine young players much deserved court time after putting in their hard knocks day in and day out during practices. By the time the final buzzer sounded Roseau would come out on top, winning 85-46. I've had the pleasure of being in Baudette numerous of times officiating both the girls and boys teams through the years. I'd like to give some recognition to one of their senior boys players, Tanner Nordlof. This fine young gentleman lays his heart out on the floor every game. He has such a great attitude and demeanor and is definitely a leader. I wish him well in whatever the future holds for him. Leading scorers for the Rams in this game, were Jed Dunham 26, Jere Bender, 20 and finishing with 10 each were Clive Gordon and Jace Hulst.

Only 6 more games remain before playoffs start and by the time my next report goes in there will only be two left. The next 2 games the Rams will be at home hosting Bagley on the 13th and KCC on the 15th. Then the green and white will be on the road for two games. In Warroad on the 18th and Crookston on the 20th. All the regular seasons in sports have either been completed and/or are winding down. If you haven't been out to see any games, the time is now. It's the best ticket in town!