Four Winds/Minnewaukan’s Jonte Delorme (24). (Photo by Mojo Hill)
FORT TOTTEN — Four Winds/Minnewaukan allowed 25 points in the first quarter of its season.
The Indians surrendered just 29 points the rest of the way.
FW/M (1-0), after trailing by as many as 10, went on to win 84-54 over Oak Grove (0-1) on Saturday at Four Winds High School.
“It was a good first opening win against a real well, very well-coached team,” said Rick Smith, who’s now in his 27th year as Four Winds head coach. “I’ve known Kyle [Card, Oak Grove’s head coach] for a long time. Always has his teams ready to play, and they’re so disciplined. … We did some nice things.”
A three-headed monster led the Indians’ scoring: Jonte Delorme with 27, Marial Deng with 22 and Sonny Alberts with 20.
“Marial and Jonte led the way, which they should. They’re our guys,” Smith said. “And then we started getting Sonny in the blocks, and he was just being patient with his jump-hook, and getting his big, wide body into a good posting position. We passed the ball fairly well. We had 10 turnovers in the first half, which is too much, but that’s that first-game jitterbug that all teams go through.”
Oak Grove found some open looks early on. Aidan Saunders and Karter Koenig combined for four three-pointers in the first quarter as the Grovers took an 18-8 lead.
“I thought they kind of caught us on our heels right away,” Smith said. “They passed the ball extremely well. They shot the ball extremely well. They came to play, and just caught us backpedaling a little too much that first quarter.”
A pair of threes by Delorme, along with a deep two from Joran Lohnes, helped breathe a little life into the Indians. They went on a 15-0 run between the first and second quarter to take the lead.
By halftime, FW/M’s advantage was in double digits. The Indians outscored the Grovers 25-4 over a stretch to close out the first half.
“We tried to just stay on our man defensively, and tighten that up a little bit,” Smith said. “After that first quarter, it just seemed like we kept pecking away. And once we got our steam and got their offense figured out, we did a lot of good things.”
Alberts, a 6-foot-4 sophomore, scored nine points in the second quarter. He used his size to find the basket, and added a shot from beyond the arc for good measure.
“He’s a very good passer from the top of the key,” Smith said. “Another thing Sonny can do that a lot of people don’t know, he shoots the ball extremely well from the outside. And he has confidence in that shot. And when you’ve got confidence in that shot, you can’t tell him not to shoot it.”
Oak Grove put a few buckets together in the third quarter to keep it close. After an 11-4 run, the Grovers trimmed the Indians’ lead to 52-44.
But FW/M took off in the fourth quarter, led by an outburst from Delorme. The speedy senior got up and down the court and scored 12 points in the quarter. He hit four triples on the night.
Delorme had one of his most complete games yet in his Indians career.
“He can score the basketball,” Smith said. “He put on some muscle over the summer. … So when he gets against those bigger, stronger guards, that he can battle them a little bit better and get to the rim a little bit better, and get to the foul line. And it showed tonight.”
The senior Deng was also a reliable force throughout the game for the Indians. He made one triple and went 5-for-6 from the free throw line. The UND football commit was also a stalwart on the defensive end.
“He’s got to use [his added muscle] to his strength out there on the floor,” Smith said. “And I thought he did that tonight. He got some and-ones just by going to the rack, not settling for a fade-away jumper. Because he doesn’t have to. He’s 6-5 with long length. … Probably could have given him some breaks here and there, because he worked so hard when he’s out there.”
As a team, the Indians went 18-for-26 in free throw shooting. Smith was pleased with how often they got to the line. One Grover fouled out, while two of their starters got to four fouls.
In the end, it was a nice 30-point for FW/M to get its season started. The Indians now jump right into region play on Thursday against May-Port-C-G, a newcomer to Class A.
“We’ll improve as we get going,” Smith said. “We’ll figure some more things out as we get going. Now we’ve got to forget about this one and turn to the next one.”
