Twelve players contributed to the scoring Thursday night as the Swanville Bulldogs ousted Verndale from the Section 5A playoffs with a 68-55 decision.
The seventh-seeded Bulldogs held the 10th-seeded Pirates to just 13 points in the first half. The Pirates came back with a 42-point second half.
"We started off really slow. We didn't do a very good job defensively to start the game," Verndale Head Coach Greg Johnson said.
The Pirates cut the lead to 12 points at the midway point of the second half but they got the momentum back with a clutch three-pointer by guard Chris Baum.
"Our guys never quit. We rallied back a couple of times but we just didn't have enough in the end," Johnson said.
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Jordan Thieschafer was high point man for the Bulldogs with 16 tallies. Baum scored a dozen.
Three of Greg Johnson's Verndale cagers scored in double figures. Jason Runyan and Zack Meidinger tied for team scoring honors with 16 points while Daniel Weiher came up with 14.
The Pirates ended their season with a 5-20 record.
VERNDALE (55)
J. Runyan 16, D. Weiher 14, Z. Meidinger 16, B. Siedschlaw 6, S. Moyer 3. 15/6 7-10 55
SWANVILLE (68)
J. Rahn 4, C. Baum 12, B. Jordan 6, N. Hedin 4, B. Schultz 2, S. Barthel 1, D. Mettler 4, M. Becker 8, J. Thieschafer 16, B. Barthel 3, M. Holmgren 1, E. Repp 7. Totals: 20/6 10-19 68
Verndale 13 42 - 55
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Swanville 37 31 - 68
