For the first 10 minutes of Minot High's 83-39 dispatching of Jamestown on Tuesday night, fifth-year coach Dean Winczewski didn't see the most aesthetically pleasing brand of hoops.
Atypical turnovers coupled with a lethargic effort in the paint was enough to allow the Blue Jays to knot up the West Region contest 12-12 at the midway point of the first half at Magic City Campus.
"There was a lot of silly decision making and a lot of sloppy boxing out," Winczewski said. "We knew we had to clean that up."
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Daniel Allar/MDN
Minot High senior Brandon Van Dusen drives past a Jamestown defender during the Magicians’ win Tuesday at Magic City Campus.
Did they ever.
Third-ranked Minot (3-0) went on a subsequent 18-4 run and padded its lead throughout the one-sided affair that saw five Magicians reach double figures.
Junior Colter Hustad, Minot's sure-handed 6-foot-5 post, scored 11 of his game-high 15 points in the first half. Sophomore Noah Bosh (13), Brandon Van Dusen (12), Kyle Gerding (12) and Brian Bloms (11) also had noteworthy outings.
Jamestown (0-2) didn't feature a bullish post player to contend with Hustad physically and Minot took advantage of the disparity.
"My teammates just kept feeding the ball down low," said Hustad, who also had five rebounds. "And when they started really guarding the post we were able to get (Bloms) and our shooters involved."
Jesse Andrist's 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer gave Minot a 41-22 edge in what seemingly set the offensive tone for the second half. The Magicians hit seven of their 10 triples in the last stanza, with Bloms connecting on three to help his club widen the margin.
Gerding was a key cog in that pursuit, finishing with 10 assists.
"We share it. We don't know care who leads us," Winczewski said. "And we believe in our shooters."
Nine players reached the scoring column for Minot, which travels to Dickinson on Saturday night. All-West Region guard Austin Frank will get his first action of the season after serving a three-game suspension.
Jamestown didn't have a player reach double figures as Alex McInnes led the Blue Jays with nine points.
Minot 83, Jamestown 39
MHS: Colter Hustad 7-8 1-1 15, Noah Bosh 4-10 3-3 13, Kyle Gerding 4-8 3-4 12, Brandon VanDusen 4-14 3-4 12, Bryan Bloms 4-7 0-0 11, Caleb Albertson 3-6 0-0 8, Jesse Andrist 1-5 3-3 6, Marquise Johnson 2-3 0-0 4, Jacob Holmen 1-1 0-0 2. Total 30-62 13-16 83.
JHS: Alex McInnes 3-12 1-1 9, David Hanson 3-10 1-2 7, Sean Lindberg 3-3 0-0 6, Scott Nelson 1-2 2-2 4, Lucas Keller 2-7 0-3 4, McKade Kleinknect 2-9 0-0 4, Phil Manley 1-4 0-0 2. Totals 16-53 6-9 39.
Halftime: MHS 41, JHS 22; 3-pointers, JHS 1-5 (McInnes 1, Keller 0-3, Ukestad 0-1), Minot 10-21 (Bloms 3-5, Alberston 2-3, Bosh 2-2, Gerding 1-2, Andrist 1-4, VanDusen 1-3, Halvorson 0-1); Rebounds, JHS 33 (McInnes 6), Minot 41 (VanDusen 6); Assists, JHS 12 (Nelson 3), Minot 26 (Gerding 10); Blocks, JHS 0, Minot 0; Turnovers, JHS 20, Minot 8; Fouls, JHS 15, MHS 15. Fouled out: None.