Basketball takes the spotlight tonight at Bemidji High with both boys and girls cagers in action.
Unfortunately, both are on the road, the girls at Moorhead and the boys at Duluth East.
Both face stiff competition.The girls will be trying to sweep the Spuds for the second straight year. The boys will be seeking a repeat of last year's win here.
The girls put a 17-1 record on the line against a Moorhead team that reached 7-8 Tuesday with a hard fought 74-65 win over Thief River Falls, a team Bemidji beat by 34 points twice this season.
But the Spuds pushed Bemidji to the limit in their game here before falling 72-69 in the closing minute.
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Kayla Hirt hit a personal best 38 that night, a figure she topped with 40 three games later in a win over Cloquet.
With her 12th point tonight, she will reach the 500 mark this year, drawing ever closer to her 658 school mark set in 2009.
Kelsey Heisler, Abby Hendricks, Erika Weimann and Megan Huseby will join her in the starting lineup tonight with Jess Yost, Kenzie Kane, Selina Gilbertson and Caitlin Gangelhoff first off the bench.
The B Team takes a two game win streak and 7-10 overall figure into its opener. The freshmen are 9-5.
Boys need win
The boys are seeking to snap a mid season slump that has seen them lose their last two starts to drop to 11-6. That followed a six-game winning string.
East is 12-7 and plays a similar up tempo attack to Bemidji's run and gun style. A high scoring contest is predicted.
The key player to stop is guard Dyami Starks, Division I bound next year, who can hit well into the 30's on a hot night.
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He had 24 here in last year's game won by Bemidji 72-68 with four players in double figures led by Czar Woods' 16. Ryan Rude added 12 among players back on the court tonight.
Carey Woods, Dan Frost and Grant Richardson will complete the starting cast with Harley Kroening, Josh Kane, Mitch Brown and Cody Rutledge the first four off the bench.
Carey Woods went over the 300 point mark with 22 in the loss at Sartell Saturday., Rude is close behind at 268.
Alex here Saturday
Bemidji will entertain Alexandria in a girls-boys twin bill Saturday at 1 and 3.
The girls game should be a classic with the Cardinals running away with the Central Lakes title at 13-1 and 16-3 overall, They have split with Moorhead and Willmar, beating Willmar by one and losing by two..
Alexandria's boys are 7-7 and 4-7 in the CLC.
Last year at Alex, the girls won 72-56 as Hirt hit 29. The boys edged the Cardinals 54-52 with Rude's 15 high.
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The girls game will match Hirt against Angela Christianson, a 2,000 point scorer headed to Division I next year.
She is well remembered for her 54 point night in the 2008 section playoffs here in a game Bemidji pulled out at the wire.
