Bucs fall to Waseca and NRHEG

The WEM boys basketball team dropped a pair of contests last week, falling to Waseca and NRHEG. Waseca, rated 13th in Class AAA, downed the Bucs 76-44 Dec. 19. NRHEG, undefeated with a 6-0 record, edged the Bucs 60-53 Dec. 22. WEM has lost three straight games and fell to 1- 3 in the Gopher Conference and 2-5 overall. They will play in the Howard Lake- Waverly/Winsted Tourney Dec. 27 and 28. The Bucs scored only 16 points in the first half against Waseca. They only made three field goals in falling behind 45-16. Junior Tanner Ranslow led the team with 12 points. Sophomore Grant McBroom added 11, junior Bladyn Bartelt nine, and sophomore Cole Kokoschke had six off the bench. The game with the Panthers was decided over the final five minutes. The Bucs held a 47-44 lead with 5:35 left in the contest. NRHEG scored nine straight points and 13 out of 14 to forge ahead, 57-48 with 66 seconds remaining. McBroom had a fantastic game, scoring WEM’s first 14 points and finishing with 26 points and five rebounds. Ranslow scored 13 points. Bartelt scored eight points. Kokoschke and junior Jayson Schneider each grabbed six rebounds. WEM trailed 32-30 at halftime. In the second half the Bucs made only 5-of-15 shots from the field. Benji Lundberg scored a game-high 27 points for the Panthers, who shot 52 percent from the field (26-of- 50).