Boys basketball: Long-range Lovejoy sparks Four Winds-Minnewaukan

So what is Chuck Lovejoy's shooting range?

"It's beyond 25, 30 feet,'' the Four Winds-Minnewaukan senior said. "I can hit 7 of 10 from out there if I'm open.

"The coaches say if I have the shot, take it. And I'm never shy about those shots. I think it's money.''

Lovejoy was deadly Saturday. He scored 31 points to lead the Indians past fourth-ranked Cavalier 81-67 in the annual Grand Forks Dick Compton Memorial Lions Shootout at Central High School.

The senior connected on six 3-point shots, from the left wing, the right wing and the top of the key, and he wasn't toeing the 3-point line on any of them. Some hits were from beyond 25 feet.

"Chuck knows when he's feeling it,'' FW-M coach Doug Yankton said. "He consistently hits from 25 to 28 feet. His shooting opens things up for the other guys. And you see defensive guys on other teams looking like, 'What can I do?' when he's on.

"And there's not much you can do. With his range, most of the time, he's open and on.''

Four Winds-Minnewaukan never trailed after the opening minute, holding 19-15, 37-26 and 58-41 leads at the quarter stops. Cavalier rallied to within nine twice in the final quarter, the last with 2:35 remaining on a Brandon Chrest putback, but couldn't cut the deficit further.

Geoff Leftbear added 18 points, Chris Cook 16 and Christian Ironroad 13 for Four Winds-Minnewaukan.

"Defense was big for us,'' Yankton said. "We were physical and aggressive.''

Brady Robbins had 20 points and Chrest 18 to pace Cavalier.

"We missed a lot of bunnies and too many open outside shots,'' Cavalier coach Keith Hartz said. "We had opportunities, and we've been shooting really well lately. But we were out-played. They out-hustled us.''

Midway-Minto 94, Warwick 91: Veteran Midway-Minto coach Shane Robinson saw some firsts.

"I've never seen two teams get 90 points in the same game," Robinson said. "And I haven't seen two guys get 40 points in the same game.

"It was good offense. And neither of us played real good defense."

Philip Schanilec poured in a career-high 49 points to pace Midway-Minto. It was the third time in the last five games the senior has scored more than 40. Melvin Langstaff had 42 points and Kyle Ironhawk added 33 for the Warriors.

Midway-Minto took a lead midway through the third quarter and never relinquished it. But the game wasn't determined until the closing seconds. Ironhawk hit a 3-point basket with 12 seconds left to pull Warwick within 92-91. But Nathan Linstad, who finished with 15 points, hit a pair of free throws to ice the win for the Mustangs.

EGF Senior High 67, North Border 60: Jordan Osmundson was clutch for Senior High.

The Green Wave led 39-24 at halftime. But North Border whittled away, finally tying the score at 57-57 on Bryce Mathison's tip-in basket with 3:20 remaining.

Senior High answered with 10 unanswered points. Osmundson broke the tie with a 3-pointer from the left wing, then scored on a steal and fastbreak layup. The senior guard then assisted on two straight baskets.

"Jordan's capable of that,'' Green Wave co-coach Travis Lindgren said. "He's a good athlete. And he can be a sparkplug, a high-energy guy.''

Osmundson finished with 12 points to lead a balanced offense that also had Alex Miller with 11 points and Nathan Carlson with 10. "We've had a tough time putting together a full game,'' Lindgren said. "But we can be really good, as we showed in the last few minutes.''

Bradley Keena and Landon Rude were the big offensive threats in the game. Keena finished with 20 points and Rude 18 for the Eagles.

North Star 60, Stephen-Argyle 44: Matt Swanson and Josh Haugen aren't big scorers, but they came up big in a crucial stretch for North Star.

The Bearcats led 33-18 at halftime, only to see Stephen-Argyle rally to within 35-27 midway through the third quarter. But Haugen hit a pair of shots and Swanson made a trey to spark a quarter-closing 9-3 run.

"Matt can hit the three, but he's mainly around the basket for us,'' Bearcats coach Jeff Hagler said. "And Josh isn't a big scorer. But when we're in foul trouble or defenses take other options away, we need those kids to step up.''

Jake Hagler had 17 points - 12 of those in the first half - to pace the top-ranked Bearcats, who closed the regular season at 19-0. Grant Lindahl added 15 points.

Matt Borowicz scored 17 and Grant Woinarowicz 10 to lead the Storm.