Legendary Chisholm coach Bob McDonald has seen his fair share of Broncos-Bluestreaks matchups, so he wasn’t surprised his two-time defending Section 7A champion squad struggled against a scrappy International Falls bunch.
“When I come up here, I know it’s going to be a good game,” McDonald said after a 52-44 victory at Falls High School. McDonald is in his 48th season with Chisholm and in his 55th season coaching overall.
The Broncos (2-1) hung with the No. 6 Bluestreaks, but couldn’t get the offense to click down the stretch.
Shawn Filipiak did his best to keep it close, scorching the court from all over the place with a season-high 26 points, including six 3-pointers, but no other Broncos finished in double figures. Tim Myles came off the bench in his first action of the season and finished with eight points and seven rebounds. Nick Bujold (7 assists) and Trevar Carlson (5) combined for 12 assists, but both were held scoreless.
“It seems like Shawn is doing all the damage scoring points right now and no one else is stepping up,” Broncos head coach Derek Dowty said. “We need someone to do that.”
It would help to make some free throws, too. The Broncos finished just 2 of 8 over the final 10:25, while the Bluestreaks finished 7 of 12 over that same stretch.
Adam Vake led Chisholm with a team-high 17 points and nine rebounds, Erik Paine posted 12 points and four rebounds and Tyler Simonson finished with 12 points.
“We handled the pressure OK, but there were some times we made some bad decisions. Gave them some easy buckets,” Dowty said.
Filipiak made his sixth 3-pointer with 2:42 to play to cut the deficit to 47-42. Just over a minute later, Myles hit two free throws — the only two made for FHS over the final 10:25 — to make it 47-44.
However, the Broncos never had a shot to tie or take the lead. Simonson made two free throws with 1:27 remaining, and the Broncos turned it over on the next possession after Marcus Zawchenuk got blocked by Vake.
The Broncos exchanged missed shots for Chisholm free throws the rest of the way.
“We’ve had some real doozies of a game,” McDonald said about the Broncos-Bluestreaks matchup.
And although the Broncos lost their first game under Dowty, the first-year head coach told his players not to take anything negative away from the performance.
They held the up-tempo Bluestreaks to 52 points after they scored 90 in their opener, and their defense gave them a shot in the end.
“If we play defense, we can play with anyone,” Dowty said.
The Broncos return to action Friday with a trip across the Rainy River into Fort Frances. Tipoff is 7:30 p.m.
