Scottie Boys Bounced From State

The Glasgow Scotties have come off an amazing season, which included a 49-40 win over the Jefferson Panthers in the opening round of the 2014 Class B State Tournament on Thursday. It was the team's first time in state competition since 1997, ending a 17 year drought.

The Scotties have fought hard all year, added to the pride of Hi-line basketball teams. The team finished 21-5 after losses to state runner up Columbus and Malta.

In Thursday's win against Jefferson, the Scotties were led by junior Keil Krumwiede who had 12 points coming off the bench. Krumwiede was 5-6 from the field which included a 3-pointer on his only attempt. He included six rebounds and two assists to the effort.

Senior Lane Herbert added 10 points, hitting his only 3-point attempt in a game which the team was 2-7. Herbert added nine rebounds in his effort. Chase Fossum led the team in rebounding with ten boards and scored nine points.

The team started slow, and gave up a 30-27 lead at halftime. The team shot 5-22 from the field and things weren't looking good for the Northern B Division champs.

"We just had to re-evaluate what we had to do," said Glasgow head coach Norm Braaten. "Jefferson was so tough inside, we just emphasized some things. We had to defend them. Offensively we tried to do some things better and thankfully it worked out for us."

The second half was a different story, in which Glasgow showed up as the team that many other B teams feared and respected.

Defensively, you couldn't ask for a better effort as the Scotties only gave up 10 points the rest of the game, eight in the third and two in the fourth. They scored 22 points on offense in the second half to seal the victory.

One key stat was their free throw shooting, in which Glasgow was 16-18 – nearly 89 percent – in the first and 19-23 total.

The team lost 54-37 in the semifinal round to Columbus who gave the eventual state champs Bigfork a run for their money.

In that loss, Glasgow was led by junior Jake Page who scored eight points. Junior Jason Thibault added sevem points and Fossum added six.

"They exposed our strengths and weaknesses," said coach Braaten. "They are a very physical team. They put us out of our offense. They were bumping us every cut and up front and we didn't react well,"

Braaten also gave Columbus head coach Paul Barta and the Columbus team kudos for their discipline displayed in their half-court defense and offense.

"They spread us out and they got some good cuts to the basket," he said. "I look at that game as something that we have to become if we're going to make the next step up."

The team also lost 64-53 to Malta in an elimination game the next morning. Malta eventually went on to win third.

"Hats off to Malta," said Braaten. "Those kids came out and played well. I honestly think this was the best coaching job (Coach Costin has) done. The last two years he's won and this year they weren't supposed to have anything but he did a fabulous job of putting those kids together."

Fossum led the team with 14 points and nine rebounds. Thibault and Krumwiede added 13 points apiece.

Though the season is over, the Scotties will have many teams fearing them in the future as they only lose two to graduation, which includes Herbert and Lachlan Vaira. They will return a solid nucleus of players returning as seniors, six to be exact.

"We've got some quality kids coming back. The difference is how much time they put in during the offseason," said Braaten.

After such a great season, Braaten expressed many words of thanks.

"I just want to thank the community of Glasgow for all their support," he said. "The Glasgow student body, they were tremendous at the district tournament, divisionals and state. You don't have a good team unless you have quality parents backing you. We had great parents. A thousand thank yous go out. And you got to thank the kids for a great effort."