Kari Gibb/MDN Junior Jake Schaefer (13) drives to the basket for the Lakers from Des Lacs-Burlington splitting the Nedrose defenders Brayden Heigh (0) and Keaton Cole (4)

Des Lacs-Burlington (DL-B) overcame first minute jitters to get into a scoring rhythm and never looked back as they built a 39-13 lead at half over the hosting Nedrose Cardinal boy’s basketball team. Stellar passing and high tempo defense gave the visiting Lakers the win 66-29.

The home team Cardinals matched up well athletically with the visitors and, at times, shot the ball well. The main difference in the first half was the rebounding and additional shots that came from the offensive boards for the Lakers. DL-B outrebounded the home Cardinals 27-17.

“The players have bought into our philosophy after three years now,” said DL-B head coachChris Brown. “These players come to work hard every day and our goal is to make improvements every day.”

Both home and visiting teams played tight defense with high levels of athletic effort. When DL-B players’ aggressive approach caused a foul, it usually was on the floor and only led to a pair of free throws for Nedrose. On the offensive end, the visiting Lakers worked to get the ball into the basket and consequently were 7 of 12 on free throw shooting.

Crisp passing for the visiting DL-B became a factor from the second quarter on. The open player ends up with the ball and a clear shot often. “These guys are led by seniors who have been playing since they were in the second grade,” said Brown. “Even the younger players have been part of that group with travel teams and team chemistry going back to those early elementary school days.”

The score at the end of three quarters was 53-25 as the visiting Lakers began passing to kill time on each possession. “We practice to improve as a team and individuals every day,” said Brown. “When we play our game at our tempo we can get the guys off the bench playing time and that is great as we near the end of the season and prepare for postseason play.”

With 3:05 left in the game, and leading 58-29, the Lakers began substituting their bench.

Nine players scored in the game for the visiting Lakers. Senior Braylon Fisher led all scoring with 16 points while senior Paxton Ystaas and junior Jake Schaafer added 15 and 12 points respectively. The Lakers host Dunseith on Feb. 16.

Senior Jodey Myers led the Cardinal with 13 points. Sophomore Kaleb Eggen added 10 points while senior Keaton Cole and junior Brayden Heigh added five and two points respectively. Nedrose hosts South Prairie-Max on Feb. 16.