Maple Valley head coach Jayson Kocka had a simple halftime message Monday: get the ball inside.
His team responded.
Six-foot-5 post Jesse Behm scored 17 of his 20 points in the second half to spark the Raiders to a 59-50 victory against Lisbon in the first round of the North Dakota Class B, Region 1 boys basketball tournament at the Fargo Civic Center.
"The first half we really didn't get the post touches we needed to get," Kocka said. "I don't know how many times I said it at halftime, but we needed to get the ball down low and we needed guys to execute."
Behm scored 11 points in the third quarter to help Maple Valley extend a four-point halftime lead to 46-38 by the start of the fourth quarter.
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All of Behm's points in the third came in the paint or at the foul line.
"They've got a nice well-rounded team," Lisbon coach Kim Mark said. "They were setting some screens for him (Behm) with their smaller guards and we didn't do a very good job of stepping over and helping on their cuts."
Maple Valley freshman Jordan Haseleu also scored 20 points, including 16 in the first half. The 5-10 point guard added six assists.
"Jordan did a great job of penetrating in the first half and we need him to do that, but I'd like to have a little balance there where we have penetration and post touches," Behm said.
Lisbon cut the Maple Valley lead to 46-40 with 7 minutes, 38 seconds to play in the fourth quarter after Adam Coykendall scored a basket in the paint.
The Raiders responded with the next eight points, including six from Behm.
Behm's inside basket with 5:20 remaining gave Maple Valley a 54-40 lead.
Maple Valley held Lisbon to 39-percent shooting (7 of 18) from the field in the second half.
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Maple Valley 21 31 46 59
Lisbon 17 27 38 50
MAPLE VALLEY (18-5): Beilke 0 0-0 0, Behm 8 4-6 20, Smith 1 2-2 4, Von Bank 1 0-0 2, Lerud 4 1-1 11, Steidl 0 0-0 0, Preston 1 0-0 4, Haseleu 7 3-4 20, Pfau 0 0-0 0, Erickson 0 0-0 0, Johnson 0 0-0 0, Kapaun 0 0-0 0. Totals 22-46 10-13 59.
LISBON (12-11): Qual 2 4-4 8, Mittleider 0 0-0 0, Musland 0 0-0 0, Noonan 0 0-0 0, Anderson 1 1-2 3, Mangin 0 1-1 1, Olson 1 1-1 3, Coykendall 4 7-8 15, Lee 6 0-0 16, Hanson 1 0-0 2, A. Froemke 0 0-0 0, J. Froemke 1 0-2 2, Whirlwind-Soldier 0 0-0 0. Totals 16-40 14-18 50.
3-point goals: Lerud, Haseleu 3, Lee 4. Total fouls: MV 15, L 13. Rebounds: MV 18 (Behm 6), L 27 (Qual 8). Assists: MV 14 (Haseleu 6), L 8 (Qual 5). Turnovers: MV 11, L 15.
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Eric Peterson at (701) 241-5513.
