Norway Knights Dominate Bark River-Harris, 70-39

Click the thumbnails to see photos and videos, and to hear post-game comments from Alex Ortman, Norway Coach Jeff Galino, and BR-H Coach Nick Lippens.

HARRIS---The Norway High School boys basketball team picked up their second lopsided win over the Bark River-Harris Broncos Monday night, posting a 70-39 win in Bark River.

This follows a 63-22 Knights win ten days prior.

This time, the Broncos hung tough for the first quarter, trailing just 13-8 after the first eight minutes. But things went downhill from there as the Knights used both their speed and size to routinely drive the lane for baskets, and they dominated on the glass at both ends.

Norway junior Alex Ortman ran the floor expertly, scoring 19 points to lead all scorers.

"They're really big, they're physical, and they're well-coached," Bark River-Harris Coach Nick Lippens said. "They're a tough team to handle at times. You can hang with them and you can make some spurts, but they just dominated us on the boards. We're undersized a little bit, but, still, we've got to play bigger than we did tonight. They're gonna be a tough team to beat for almost every team in the U.P."

Norway Coach Jeff Galino said that his big guys did exactly what they were supposed to do.

"I think we're doing pretty good right now," Galino said after his team won for the fifth time in six games. "We're working hard. Obviously, our shooting can use an improvement. We stopped blasting threes there after the first half, and I think we're better at attacking the basket and that helps us."

"We were not making them (triples_," Ortman said. "So, in the second haldf, we had to move around and try to look for open shots in closer to the hoop. We came out, we hustled, we made smarter plays, we were open more, and we made more shots," Ortman said. "Overall, we just connected more in the second half."

Galino said that his team needs to better use its size advantage to its advantage.

"We have some length, with Michael (Peterson), Wyatt (Spade), Blake (Dishaw) and Cole (Baij)," Galino said. "The big guys were active tonight."

"It gives us more opportunities to score and get open," Ortman agreed. "And they can really move the ball and score, so I'm proud to have good teammates like that."

Those big guys also made life miserable for Bark River-Harris's leading scorer, center Kaden Drossart. He is averaging 20 points per game this season, but scored just six in this one.

"It's tough when they're playing a zone and they've got two guys in the paint at all times that are bigger than your center," Lippens said. "That's gonna be a long night for the center. Kaden got frustrated, and it's tough when you're getting double-teamed all the time. But when you're scoring like he is, and doing what he's doing, teams are going to notice, and we've just got to be prepared for it because it's going to happen."

Michael Peterson hustled after every loose ball for the Knights, and was rewarded by scoring 12 points, nine of them in the first quarter. Wyatt Spade was a beast inside the paint, taking up a lot of space and contributing eight points. Cole Baij was also effective inside, scoring six of his eleven points in the second quarter, outmuscling his opponents to 50-50 balls.

Point guard Ian Popp took care of the ball, and he was the fourth Knight to score in double figures with eleven points. His turnover-to-assist ratio was a key to the win.

Blake Dishaw chipped in seven points in the paint for the Knights, who improve to 8-3 on the season.

Bark River-Harris fell to 2-12 on the season. The Broncos did not have a player score in double figures against the huge Norway defense. Wyatt Mosse scored nine points in the second half to lead BR-H. Jacob Mileski had two triples in the third quarter for his six points, and Drossart was completely shut out after he scored three early baskets to put BR-H ahead, 8-7.

Bark River-Harris is home again on Thursday night against Gwinn. Norway will also be in action Thursday night, with another road game in Iron River against the Wykons.