Loggers knock off Braves, 67-57

The Ronan Braves came into Ralph Tate Memorial Gym Saturday night looking for a win against district rival Libby, but the Loggers overcame a slow start to send the Braves packing, 67-57.

The Braves’ offense was strong in the first quarter, running up 21 points on the Loggers, but their defense also gave up 18, so the quarter ended with the Loggers trailing by just three. That changed in the second quarter as the Loggers outscored the visiting Braves 17-12 to take a two-point lead into the locker room at the half.

The second half was all Loggers, as they outscored the Braves 32-24 to coast to a 10-point victory in front of the home crowd.

Head coach Josh Bean was happy with how his boys overcame their slow start to take the win.

“After a big emotional win on Friday we came out slow and Ronan took advantage of it,” he said. “They ran us up and down the court for the first 4 minutes and held a 18-9 advantage with 3:42 left.  Our kids settled down and closed the quarter on a 9-3 run to be down 21-18.  We tried to control the tempo, but Ronan did a nice job of not letting us do that.  Aaron Misa and Zeke Misa did a really nice job of leading Ronan’s fast break and taking advantage of our poor defensive transition.  This game turned into a track meet up and down, and we were able to take a slight advantage into halftime.  From there we did a nice job of getting a lead and keeping the lead throughout the rest of the game.”

Senior Jonny Cielak led the Loggers with 21 points. Freshman Ryggs Johnston chipped in 15 and Erik Lauer added another 11, with 14 rebounds.