Boys basketball: Perham takes Highway 10 battle over Detroit Lakes

PERHAM – The Detroit Lakes boys basketball team posed a different kind of challenge to unbeaten Perham – one that it might not see again this year.

Perham (7-0) stayed undefeated with a 68-51 win over Detroit Lakes (4-4). The No. 8 team in Class 2A was challenged athletically in their annual Highway 10 meeting with the Lakers.

Jared Rubado / Perham Focus

"This is probably the most athletic team we'll play all year," Cresap said. "We looked at it as athleticism against basketball kids, and we have pretty good basketball kids. We were worried about physicality on the block and in the rebound department. Our kids really answered the call on the glass. We had five guys on the defensive glass, and we won the board battle."

A back-and-forth battle swiftly swung in favor of Perham following a 7-0 run with just under six minutes left in the first half. The lead grew to 33-21 three minutes later following three-pointers from Alex Ohm and Jacob Daniels. They knocked two of Perham's 10 threes to force a second Laker timeout.

"I think it comes down to us just working hard in practice for this," Daniels said. "Everyone is working toward the same goal. Everyone is chomping at the bit to get in. Everybody is ready to go if they're called, and we all count on each other. It all kind of flows from that mindset."

Perham took a 39-29 lead into the locker room after holding Detroit Lakes' high-powered offense to one of its lowest halftime totals through eight games. Perham honed in on Detroit Lakes' junior guard Devon Berg, who was coming off of a 25-point performance against Zimmerman in last week's holiday tournament in Moorhead.

Jared Rubado / Perham Focus

"We knew Berg could really shoot it," Cresap said. "Our goal was to stymie him early and get him out of his rhythm. I thought Alex (Ohm) did that. They're just super athletic and well-coached. I have a lot of respect for Brett (Maass). He's a good man, and they're going to win a lot of games because of that athleticism and how well-coached they are."

Ohm carried the load on both ends of the floor for the Yellowjackets. He made six threes in a 24-point performance to lead all scorers. He also added five rebounds and three assists.

"I knew Alex would take on the challenge defensively," Cresap said. "He did so many little things that the ordinary fan doesn't see, like deflections, getting to the rim, passing, hitting the three – all of it. I have to credit the guys who drove and passed it out to him. Blaiz Schmidt drove and passed it out to him a couple of times."

Micah Thompson led all scorers at the half with 14 points. He finished with 19 and tied for a team-high in rebounds with six.

Jared Rubado / Perham Focus

"He's a pretty gritty kid," Cresap said of Thompson. "He's a kid you can challenge too. When it's time for Micah to take over, he can take over a game for you. He can do it in the post and everywhere else. He's the type of kid we can go to when we have to, and we wouldn't be the team we are without him. That's the thing about this team – we are a team. You can say that about so many kids."

Detroit Lakes pulled within six points of the lead early in the second half. Oliver Quam got a pair of hard-earned layups to fall. He finished with 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting. Mason Carrier had a team-high 13 points. He and Brandton Marsh each had six boards. "Matchup-wise, we tried to put our best defenders on their best scorers," Daniels said. "We wanted to make them work and play hard."

Despite giving up length and athleticism, Perham outrebounded Detroit Lakes 29-25, starting with Daniels in the post. He had six rebounds to go along with his 12 points.

"We know he's going to grit down on defense. He shut down Marsh well for being 6'1" going up against a guy who's 6'6" like that," Cresap said. "Every time he had a body on him except for once, and he felt bad about it. That's the kind of kid Jacob is. He's a tremendous young man that I love coaching. He'll shake his head and go out there and do the thing you told him to do. He answered the call offensively. If we can get 12 points and 5-6 boards out of him every night, we're going to be tough."

Jared Rubado / Perham Focus

Perham pulled away to a 17-point win and a seventh-consecutive win over Detroit Lakes. The last time the Lakers beat the Yellowjackets was on Feb. 4, 2016.

"It all goes back to practice," Daniels said. "It's really intense because everybody is constantly pushing to make everybody better. We need to stay focused and play within ourselves. We need to keep bringing it in practice and take it one game at a time. That's all you can do."

1/2: Detroit Lakes' Brandton Marsh, right, shoots over Jacob Daniels in Perham's 68-51 win over Detroit Lakes on Jan. 3, 2022 at The Hive.

2/2: Detroit Lakes' Oliver Quam, front, drives to the paint with Soren Anderson in the Yellowjackets' 68-51 win over Detroit Lakes on Jan. 3, 2022 at The Hive.