Boys basketball: Bureau Valley uses 13-0 run to avenge loss to Hall

SPRING VALLEY – The Bureau Valley Storm and the Hall Red Devils played even for 30 minutes Tuesday night at Hall.

However, the Storm outscored the Red Devils 13-0 over a two-minute stretch in the third quarter to open a nine-point lead. They turned that run into a 59-48 victory to spoil the Hall senior night in Three Rivers East play.

Bureau Valley junior post Landon Hulsing said it was nice to turn things around after losing to the Red Devils 57-56 at the Storm Cellar on Jan. 29.

“It felt good. We wanted to beat them because they beat us on our home floor. It was good to get them back,” Hulsing said.

Wyatt West put the Red Devils up 33-31 with a three-point play with three minutes left in the third quarter.

Then the Storm went on the run.

Justin Moon made a free throw but missed the second, only to grab the rebound and put it back in. Helms and Corban Chhim each nailed 3s to give the Storm a 40-33 lead with 1:45 left in the quarter.

Freshman Blake Foster scored, and when he missed his free-throw attempt, Hulsing was there for the putback to extend the Storm’s lead to 44-33.

Hulsing, who scored a game-high 19 points, said gaining that momentum was key.

“We kind of just took the momentum and kept going,” he said. “Even when they went on a little run, we were able to stop them and finish it.”

BV coach Jason Marquis said the Storm had much better execution this time around against Hall.

“We’ve been consistently inconsistent. I’m hoping our kids start to recognize this is February. Who you are now is who you are. We were better tonight,” he said. “We still gave up some open 3s, but we came in at halftime and addressed some defensive adjustments. I thought we contested the open shots much better.”

Marquis praised junior point guard Bryce Helms for his floor leader leadership, saying it was his best game of the season.

“Bryce kept us calm, and we’ve struggled the last few weeks to find that calm in the storm,” he said. “Basketball is a lot like life. You lean on people who have that steady hand and are calm. I thought tonight when we made some mistakes, Bryce was that guy. Reminding us of our focus, reminding us to get some defensive rebounds and the offense will take care of itself.”

Hall coach Mike Filippini said the Red Devils’ outside shooting can make them look good, and Tuesday they didn’t have it outside of senior Payton Dye, who sank five 3-pointers for 15 points.

“We’re just not playing very well right now or making good decisions. When we don’t shoot the ball very well, that’s starting to affect our effort,” he said. “We rely on outside shooting because we don’t have any size. When we don’t make shots, that kind of affects our attitude and effort on the court. It happened Friday against Newman, and it happened tonight.

”Bureau Valley just played better than us tonight. We said before the game, it’s two even teams. It’s probably going to come down to two or three plays, and tonight those two, three plays happened in the third quarter.”

Chhim had 15 points for Bureau Valley (14-13, 2-7), while Max Bryant netted 13 for Hall (11-13, 3-6).

Foster hit a buzzer-beater to give the Storm a 14-12 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Baskets by Hulsing in the post and Logan Philhower on the break gave the Storm an 18-15 lead with 5:15 left in the second quarter. Dye wiped that out with a 3-pointer to give the Red Devils a 20-18 lead.

From there, the Storm outscored the Red Devils 9-4, including seven points by Moon, to take a 27-24 halftime lead.