By Jed Buelow
Tomahawk Leader Co-Editor, Sports and Nature Editor
Almost three decades have passed since the last time the Tomahawk boys’ varsity basketball team traveled to T-Bird Country and left with a win – the last time Tomahawk defeated Lakeland was all the way back in 1992.
Notching their first win of the season and the first under new head coach Jacob Jarvensivu, Tomahawk broke the streak last week getting the 43-40 conference win over Lakeland. The win improved Tomahawk’s record to 1-1 in the conference and 1-5 overall. The loss was the first for the T-Birds in the GNC as they fell to 1-1 and 3-2 overall.
“We played our most complete game of the season. Our defense has become a weapon for us over the last few games,” stated coach Jarvensivu. “We took them out of the things that they were trying to do offensively and challenged shots well.”
And the T-Bird frustration showed on the score sheet as Lakeland failed to make free throws, completing just 33% from the charity stripe, while the Hatchets were hot from behind the three point line hitting almost 43% of shots, or 6-for-14 from downtown on the night.
Tomahawk actually trailed after the first half but came storming back in the second to get the three-point win.
“For us, we maybe didn’t score at the rate that we wanted to and we still turned it over too much, but the boys battled and got the win by any means necessary,” the coach added. “I am very proud of our fight and grit of this basketball team.”
The Hatchets also did a nice job distributing the ball on offense. Hatchet senior Drew Bolder was on fire hitting 4-of-6 three pointers to finish with 14 points. Tomahawk big man Connor Dichsen also helped lead the team in scoring with 12 and Nick Kahle and Elijah Scheffler each finished with 5 points apiece.
Coming off the big win over Lakeland, Tomahawk will look to keep it going during the holiday break as they travel to Almond-Bancroft for a tourney Dec. 27-28. Opening tip both days is at 2 p.m.