A second half surge helped the Perham boys basketball team remain undefeated when it defeated Fargo Oak Grove 70-45 on Feb. 1 at the Memorial Auditorium in Moorhead.
The Yellowjackets played much of the first half without Finn Diggins and Elijah Morris as they were both in foul trouble. The Yellowjackets relied heavily on Charlie Rasmussen and much of their bench in the first half and maintained a 29-24 lead at the break.
Rasmussen led the Yellowjackets with 22 points, 11 of them coming in that first half. Rasmussen said the Yellowjackets were a little sluggish in that first half.
“We had a couple of guys in foul trouble that hurt us a little bit,” Rasmussen said. “The second half a lot of role players stepped up for us and our starters were back in the game, which helped us maintain about a 20 point lead.”
Rasmussen was able to get to the basket throughout the first half, which helped Perham maintain its lead on the Grovers. Perham led 22-13 after Carter Aakre hit a 3-pointer and Rasmussen was able to get to the line for a free throw.
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“I was trying to play my own game a little bit, value the ball and protect it,” Rasmussen said. “Once again, our role players stepped up for us.”
With Diggins back on the floor, the Yellowjackets exploded in the early portion of the second half. Diggins hit a pair of 3-pointers and threw down a thunderous dunk to help Perham expand its lead. Diggins scored 16 points, all of them in the second half. Rasmussen said it’s big when Diggins is hitting 3-pointers.
“When Finn is hitting 3-pointers, they have to come out and defend and then he can just go around them,” Rasmussen said. “When we share the ball, we are tough to stop.”
Elijah Morris finished with 15 points as well for Perham. He hit on three of his four 3-point attempts and was perfect from inside the 3-point line as well.
The defense helped the Yellowjackets start the second half on a 20-3 run, which took away any momentum the Grovers had from hanging tight with the Yellowjackets in the first half.
“We played pretty good defense to start the second half,” Rasmussen said. “I think they started to get a little tired from trying to run with us, which was good, but we needed the win for ourselves.”
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The Yellowjackets outscored the Grovers 41-21 in the second half, securing their 14th straight win to start the season. Mason Martinson and Noah Swenson led the Grovers with 10 points each.
FOG 24 21--45
PER 29 41--70
FOG-Jacob Lang 3, Mason Bolme 9, Mason Martinson 10, Cody Card 6, Trevon Rodriguez 4, Jorgen Dietz 3, Noah Swenson 10.
3-pointers: Lang, Martinson 2, Dietz. Free Throws: 7-13. Team Fouls: 14. Fouled Out: None
PER-Carter Aakre 3, Charlie Rasmussen 22, Finn Diggins 16, Grant McMartin 4, Landon Stevens 5, Gavin Hillukka 2, Gunnar Anderson 3, Elijah Morris 15
3-pointers: Aakre, Diggins 2, Stevens, Morris 3. Free Throws: 9-13. Team Fouls: 12. Fouled Out: None
Perham 60, Breckenridge 39
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The Perham boys basketball team valued the basketball in its 60-39 victory over the Breckenridge Cowboys on Jan. 31 in Breckenridge.
The Yellowjackets committed just four turnovers in the game, the first coming in the second half, and forced 17 Breckenridge turnovers on their way to the 21-point road win. The victory completed the series sweep over the Cowboys as they defeated Breckenridge earlier in the season in Perham.
Finn Diggins led all scorers with a game-high of 25 points. Diggins was nine of 14 from the field and was 50 percent (3-6) from the 3-point line. Elijah Morris finished with 13 points and Charlie Rasmussen added 12 in the win. Grant McMartin and Gunnar Anderson had five points each to account for all the Perham scoring.
The Yellowjackets were able to get good looks at the basket as they shot 70.8 percent from inside the 3-point line. They hit on 38.9 percent of their 3-point attempts.
Perham held a 29-17 lead at the end of the first half. Breckenridge tried to slow things down with a patient attack, but it didn’t last for long as Perham was able to go on an early run. Perham outscored the Cowboys 31-22 in the second half. Breckenridge rallied to cut a double digit lead down to nine, but Perham quickly brought it back up to double figures.
Jonah Christensen led the way for Breckenridge with 13 points.
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The victory improved the Yellowjackets to 6-0 in the Heart O’Lakes Conference.
PER 29 31--60
BRK 17 22--39
PER- Charlie Rasmussen 12, Finn Diggins 25, Grant McMartin 5, Gunnar Anderson 5, Elijah Morris 13.
3-pointers: Diggins 3, McMartin, Anderson, Morris 2. Free Throws: 5-6. Team Fouls: 9. Fouled Out: None
BRK-Cooper Yaggie 7, Jonah Christensen 13, Jr. Perez 3, Chris Neito 6, Anthony Conzemius 4, Tyson Piechowski 6.
3-pointers: Christensen 2, Perez, Nieto. Free Throws: 5-10. Team Fouls 8: Fouled Out: None
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