Porcupines lose close game to Circle, beat Plentywood

The Nashua boys basketball team split two physical games last weekend, trouncing Plentywood before slipping late against Circle.
Always aggressive, the Porcupines got caught in foul trouble in their game against Circle on Saturday.
The team fell behind early in the first quarter, letting the Wildcats out to an 8-2 lead, before it could regain its composure. The Porcupines narrowed the lead to one with a minute to go in the first before Circle hit a bucket to close the quarter with an 11-8 lead.
The Wildcats stretched the lead into halftime, leading 25-17 at the break and Nashua was starting to get into foul trouble. Both big men for the Porcupines were in trouble, Pick Ackerman had three fouls at halftime and Brandon Hansard had two. Hansard would pick up two quickly out of the gate and have to sit much of the third quarter.
The Porcupines also struggled to get point production from their guards in the first half. While the backcourt played stellar defense, including five steals by Anthony Bengochea in the half, there was only a combined five points between them.
The aggressive defense continued to get the Porcupines into trouble early in the third. Nashua was called for its first seven fouls, putting Circle into the bonus, with less than five minutes spent in the half. Trailing 32-23 midway through the third, the Porcupines had to tread lightly for the rest of the game, or risk slowly letting the game slip away at the free throw line.
That's when the team started clicking. Senior Shae Stein started the comeback, scoring easy layups on two consecutive possessions by crashing the boards for second-chance points. The Porcupines had the lead cut to a single possession, 33-31, when a Circle player hit a three-point shot that was released as the buzzer sounded. The referees conferred and decided that the shot left his hand before the buzzer sounded, giving the Wildcats a 36-31 lead entering the final eight minutes.
After trading baskets to start the quarter, a Bengochea triple and a cleanup lay-in by Dustin Kelm cut the lead back to only a two point deficit in the fourth, 40-38.
The Wildcats threw the game into a four corners offense from that point on, playing keep away with the Porcupines until they got an easy basket or sent to the foul line. Soon after Nashua fell into the double bonus and was unable to stop Circle from killing the clock. The Wildcats scored the final six points of the game and won with a final score of 46-38.
Brandon Hansard led the team with 10 points and 10 rebounds. He rounded out his double-double with an assist, a steal and a block in the game.
Stein finished with eight points, seven rebounds and two assists. Ackerman had six points, all in the first half. Kelm and Sean Bengochea had four points while Anthony Bengochea finished with the lone three pointer. Willy Lauckner, who also got into foul trouble in the second half, finished with two points.
Nashua fared much better on Friday night, beating Plentywood in runaway fashion 65-39.
The Porcupines used a 20-2 second quarter to build the huge lead. The lead was 52-20 to end the third before the Wildcats were able to mount any sort of attack.
Four Porcupines finished in double figures in the game. Stein led the pack with 18 points, Ackerman had 11 points and both Kelm and Hansard finished with 10 points. Anthony Bengochea finished with nine points and Lauckner finished with five points. Sophomore Jared Busch finished with two points.
The Porcupines are now 6-2 overall after the nonconference split over the weekend. They are still 3-0 in conference and get back on the conference schedule this week with games at Frazer (2-8, 2-6), at Scobey (6-2, 2-1) and home against Lustre (7-1, 5-0).
The girls team lost its only game of the weekend, falling to Opheim for the second time this season, 43-35. Kass Sibley carried much of the load, finishing the game with 22 points. Jana Tihista finished with nine points and Darbi Borgen and Rachel McMurry each had two points. Now 2-6 overall and 2-3 in conference, the girls rejoin the boys on the schedule, facing off with Frazer (5-7, 4-5), Scobey (5-4, 3-1) and Lustre (1-7, 0-6) this week.