LESTER PRAIRIE – It’s been a frustrating beginning to the season for the Lester Prairie/Holy Trinity boys basketball team. After starting their season with four straight losses in which all four losses came by 12 or more points, it was time to try something new.
The Bulldogs said goodbye (at least for now) to their hockey line shift change style in favor of a more traditional rotation style, and the end result speaks for itself. It was the most complete game of the season for the Bulldogs as they came out on top with a 73-66 victory against the New Ulm Cathedral Greyhounds to earn a key win against a section opponent.
“We used our first four games as kind of a measuring stick,” LP/HT coach Nat Boyer said. “We decided to see where we’re at and what’s going on. We played different competition those first four games. There’s a reason we did that. We wanted to make sure we were prepared for when we started playing section teams. After doing our scouting, scouting ourselves and scouting other opponents, we saw that this is something we can definitely do. I can’t guarantee it’s going to be every game like that. We’re going to see what our opponents are doing and see what matches up. We collectively put together what we think works best for our kids.”
The change in style paid dividends from the start for the Bulldogs as they got things rolling early. A 3-pointer from Parker Bayerl gave the Bulldogs their first lead at 11-9, and things kept rolling from there.
Michael Ziermann also got off to a nice start for the Bulldogs after struggling a bit for his standards in LP/HT’s first four games of the year. He had eight of the Bulldogs’ first 16 points, and scored 13 of his game-high 23 points in the first half.
“He’s got to get to the rim,” Boyer said about Ziermann’s aggressiveness. “He’s got to get to the rim and get to the line. All of them. You saw Parker and Evan did it. It opens up stuff for guys like Dylan. It’s going to open up more. We’re going to have more guys that get open looks the more we attack the rim and put that pressure on the defense.”
Look for the rest of the story, as well as more HJ sports coverage, in the Friday, Dec. 22 edition of the Herald Journal. Click here for subscription information.
Follow Kip Kovar on Twitter: @Kovar_HJSports