By Kalvin D. Perron
Staff Reporter
BRIMLEY — After steam-rolling the Detour Raiders and the St. Basil Saints in their first two games of the season, the Brimley Bays proved that their lopsided victories were no fluke as they beat their non-conference rivals, the Sault Blue Devils and Rudyard Bulldogs, by a combined total of 56 points, on back-to-back nights, Mon., Dec. 13, and Tues., Dec. 14. With their most recent pair of wins, the Bays remain unbeaten at 4-0, bringing up a very important question — who can stop them?
The Bays stifling defense forced the Sault into costly turnovers early on in the first quarter of their contest, and ultimately, opened up a six point lead at the end of the quarter. With their relentless defense, the Bays refused to let the Blue Devils gain any ground offensively and extended their lead by five more points at the end of two, and went into half-time with a 31-20 edge.
After half-time, however, the Bays would seal the fate of the visiting Sault squad, ripping off a 20-7 run in the third quarter and coasting through the fourth quarter for the easy 66-52 victory.
Even though the Bays shot barely over 30 percent from the field against the Sault, mainly because of the size of the Blue Devil front court contesting every shot down low, the Bays proved that winning the turnover battle and playing good defense can sometimes be enough to carry a team to victory.
The Bays were led by Nathan Halvorsen with 12 points and five steals, Kellen Perron with 11 points, and Josh Winkler with 10 points and nine rebounds. Travis Lynn added seven assists to go along with his six points.
Next to fall victim to the Brimley Bays was the Rudyard Bulldogs. The Bays opened up the first quarter with a 23-17 edge over the visiting Bulldogs — and that's as close as it would get. The Bays opened up the third quarter with a 13-0 run and extended their lead to 43-24 at the half.
The Bays offense came alive in the third quarter, as they went on a blistering 30-8 run, and opened up a 73-32 lead going into the fourth quarter. When the smoke cleared and all the time had run off the clock, the Bays found themselves on the winning end of a 82-40 “blow out”.
Having won their first games rather easily, the Bays next game will be their ultimate litmus test, a chance to find out just how good they are — they play EUP Conference rival Cedarville at L.S.S.U., Tues., Jan. 4. Cedarville has dashed many Bays' dreams of post-season glory in the past.
Who can stop the Bays? If the Bays beat Cedarville my answer is — nobody! Perfect season, anyone?
