Nashua Boys Advance to Divisionals Take Third in District 3C

After losing out in two games in last year's District 3C Tournament, the Nashua boys basketball team earned a trip the Divisional Tournament this season with a third-place finish in Glasgow this past weekend.

Nashua defeated Frazer 66-21 in the opening round of the tournament on Wednesday before losing a 40-34 contest to eventual-second-place Scobey on Thursday. The Porcupines stayed alive in loser-out action Friday with a 70-47 victory over North Country and took third with a 67-54 win over the Dodson Coyotes Saturday night.

Nashua established their lead early in their game against Frazer, leading 19-5 at the end of one. The Porcupines extended their lead to 19 points at the half, 27-8, and outscored the Bearcubs 9-7 in the third. Nashua sealed the win with an 11-point performance in the fourth while holding Frazer to 6 points.

Caden Laumeyer powered Nashua with 14 points followed by Grady Nielsen and Kevan Viste, both with 11 points. Nielsen sank 3-of-5 free throws and Viste hit three shots from downtown. Jackson Abern scored 10 followed by Bubba Pugh, 8, and Xander Pugh, 7 points. Charlie Kaasa hit a three-pointer and John Grimes added a bucket. Nashua shot 52.9 percent from the field and 33.3 percent at the line.

The Porcupines held their fouls to six in the game, giving up no bonus shots to the Bearcubs, while Frazer was called for 12 infractions. Nielsen and B. Pugh drew two whistles each while Abern and Kaasa had one foul a piece.

Nashua had 43 rebounds in the game, led by Nielsen with 14 boards. Laumeyer had seven, Abern six, Grimes five, X. Pugh four, Viste three, Damon Adkins two, and B. Pugh and Kaasa one each. The Porcupines put up 23 assists as a team, led by Viste with seven and Adkins with five. X. Pugh had four helpers while B. Pugh and Kaasa both had two. Nielsen, Abern and Laumeyer had one assist a piece.

Nashua had 13 turnovers with 11 steals. X. Pugh led in takeaways with four followed by Nielsen with three, Viste two, and B. Pugh and Laumeyer one each. Nielsen, X. Pugh, B. Pugh and Viste each blocked a shot in the win.

The Porcupines advanced to face the Spartans on Thursday, falling after a third-quarter surge by Scobey. Nashua led 8-3 at the end of one and 14-12 at the half before being outscored 16-7 in the third. Trailing 28-21 at the start of the final quarter, the Porcupines put up 13 points while Scobey added 12 to their side of the scoreboard for the Spartan win.

Laumeyer led Nashua with 13 points, hitting a free throw. X. Pugh scored 11 with three treys and two free throws. Nielsen was held to 6 points while Viste scored 4, half at the charity stripe. The Porcupines shot 25 percent from the field and 83.3 percent at the line.

Scobey held their fouls to 12 while Nashua drew 15 calls. Viste and Nielsen were both called for four while B. Pugh and Laumeyer each had three fouls. Adkins caught the officials' attention once.

Nashua pulled down 38 rebounds, led by Nielsen with 15 and Laumeyer with 12. X. Pugh snagged five, while Adkins and Viste had three boards a piece.

As a team, the Porcupines had seven assists, 16 turnovers and four steals. B. Pugh had three assists, Viste two, and Adkins and Nielsen one each. Adkins had two steals with X. Pugh and Viste getting one takeaway each. Adkins also had Nashua's only block of the game.

The loss sent Nashua to loser-out action on Friday where they faced the North Country Mavericks and walked away with the 70-47 win.

North Country played hard in the first half, leading Nashua 16-15 at the end of the first but Nashua fired up the offense with 21 points in the second while holding North Country to 13 points. Nashua extended their lead from 36-29 at the half to 52-34 at the end of the third and outscored the Mavericks 18-13 in the final eight minutes of play.

Nielsen led all scorers with 27 points, hitting 9-of-17 free throws. Laumeyer scored 20 points followed by Adkins who hit two three-pointers on his way to 12 points. X. Pugh scored 8 with two treys and Viste hit for 3 with a free throw. Nashua shot 51.9 percent from the field and 40 percent from the line.

The Porcupines were called for 13 fouls while North Country had 21 infractions. Viste and Laumeyer were both called for four while Nielsen drew three whistles. Adkins and B. Pugh each had one foul.

Nashua put up 20 assists with 14 turnovers and eight steals against Scobey. Adkins had nine helpers followed by Viste, four; X. Pugh, three; Laumeyer, two, and Nielsen and B. Pugh, one each. X. Pugh had five of the team's takeaways. Adkins added two steals and B. Pugh one. Nielsen notched all four of the team's blocks.

With the win, Nashua advanced to the Consolation game Saturday night to face the Dodson Coyotes. The Porcupines were outscored in only the fourth quarter of the game.

First-year coach Travis Nielsen was confident going into the matchup, noting several of his players were at the top of the game and saying he felt good about breaking Dodson's full court presses.

Nashua sped out to a 10-point lead in the first, 24-14, and outscored Dodson 12-9 in the second. The Porcupines extended their lead to 18 points by the end of the third, 54-36, before the Coyotes outpaced them 18-13 in the final eight minutes.

Nielsen led Nashua with 20 points, hitting 8-of-9 from the line. Adkins drained four three-pointers on his way to 18 points and X. Pugh also hit four from downtown, scoring 14 points. Viste added 8 points with two shots from downtown and Laumeyer scored 5 with a free throw. The Porcupines shot 51.1 percent from the court and 64.3 percent from the line.

Both teams were called for 14 fouls, with Dodson connecting on 12-of-16 bonus shots and Nashua hitting 9-of-14. Nielsen and Laumeyer were both called for four fouls. Adkins and X. Pugh drew two whistles each while Viste and B. Pugh had a foul a piece.

Nashua grabbed 31 rebounds, led by Nielsen with 14 boards. Viste pulled down six, Adkins five, X. Pugh three, Laumeyer two and B. Pugh one rebound.

The Porcupines had 23 assists with 22 turnovers and nine steals. Adkins led in assists with seven while X. Pugh, Viste and Nielsen added four helpers each. Laumeyer had three and B. Pugh one assist. Viste had five takeawayss and X. Pugh five. Nielsen blocked three Dodson shots while Viste and Laumeyer took two and one charges, respectively.

Nashua advances to the Eastern C Divisional Tournament in Wolf Point. They will face Froid/Lake in the boys' opening round with a tip off at 1:30 p.m. Thursday, March 2. The tournament, for both boys and girls, will run Wednesday through Saturday, March 1-4 at Wolf Point High School.