WARRIORS HAND BEARCATS A FRUSTRATING LOSS; FAM WILL PLAY FOR 7TH

On the opening possession of the third quarter of Freeman Academy/Marion’s game against Castlewood on the consolation side of the State B bracket Friday afternoon, March 18, senior Quincy Blue got a good look at a three-pointer from the elbow.

The ball rattled in and out of the iron.

The Warriors quickly raced down the court and Castlewood senior Tristan Nielsen got a good look at a three-pointer from the perimeter.

Nothing but net.

That, in a nutshell, was the story of the game.

The sixth-seeded FAM boys endured a frustrating and disappointing 32 minutes against seventh-seed Castlewood and walked off the court on the short end of a 64-48 score.

The Bearcats will play for seventh place against fifth-seed Aberdeen Christian Saturday at noon.

Castlewood will face eighth-seed Waubay-Summit in the consolation championship at 1:45 p.m.

FAM trailed the entire game against the Warriors and shot just 18-for-53 from the field, including 6-for-24 from three-point range.

Castlewood was 12-for-31 from the field, including 10-for-19 from three-point range.

“They shot the ball really well and we didn’t,” head coach Austin Unruh said after coming out of what was a tough locker room. “There are times in life when things don’t click — things don’t gel. We had shots rim out that looked in, we had layups that looked like they were going down that didn’t, and we did a good job of contesting their shots, and theirs went in.

“That’s the beauty and that’s the pain of basketball.”

Connor Epp had 17 points, Blue finished with 11 and Thalen Schroeder added 10 for the Bearcats.

Nielsen finished with 15 points, Lane Tvedt had 11 and Joe Decker finished with 10 for the Warriors.