LARIMORE, N.D. – Trailing by a point with 49 seconds left in the fourth quarter, Larimore junior guard Baron Burns calmly went to the free throw line and made a basket to tie the game, leading to the Larimore Polar Bears upset over Midway/Minto Mustangs, 67-64, in a district varsity boys basketball game on Friday, Jan. 16.
“Huge win,” Larimore High School head coach Kyle Kleven said. “The boys needed that one. We were kind of reeling a little bit after we lost three in a row. But this was a big district win. It’s always nice to beat a rival.”
Larimore trailed by two at the half. Burns was held to four points in the first half, but started the second half playing with more aggression and hit two early buckets driving the lane. He added two 3-pointers later in the quarter to keep the Polar Bears close.
Burns would score 14 points in the third quarter and 11 in the fourth quarter to lead Larimore with 29 points.
Dyllan Rethemeier scored 13 points. He led Larimore with eight points in the first half and with the game on the line in the fourth quarter, he came down with some key rebounds dominating the glass. Mason Myers added nine points with four coming late in the fourth quarter. Tatum Stark scored eight points hitting three of four free throws in the final frame.
I can’t say enough about Baron,” Kleven said. I mean he stepped up today, made some big shots. And Tatum did heck of a job playing defense on Ezra Robinson. Dyllan and Mason controlled the boards in the in the fourth quarter.”
Larimore showed its toughness in the game facing Mustang seniors Ezra and Elijah Robinson. Elijah led the Mustangs with 24 points, but Larimore held Ezra to 10 points. Trenton Sitzer scored 23.
“It’s what we’ve been working on all week, being a little bit more physical and making sure that we’re just strong with that basketball,” Kleven said. “That’s what killed us last week, but it was really good today. I mean, it was a physical game. It was physical on both sides. I mean, that’s what district play is going to be. “
Grant Odermann scored four points for Larimore. Case Knudson and Reed Gratton each scored two points.
The Polar Bears go on the road next week to play Cavalier on Tuesday, Jan. 20 and Hatton/Northwood Friday, Jan. 23.
