International Falls head coach Derek Dowty told his team Monday he would start subbing more.
He’s a man of his word.
With leading scorers Shawn Filipiak and Gunnar Anderson rendered ineffective offensively Tuesday thanks to a stubborn triangle-and-two defense from Ely, Dowty went with mostly reserves in the second half at the Falls High Gym. The moved resulted in a 51-42 Bronco victory over the previously undefeated Timberwolves (13-1) in front of an enthusiastic crowd celebrating Winter Sports Week.
“That’s something we’re going to start working on — subbing, so we can leave it all out there,” Dowty said.
Ten players saw significant action for the Broncos (14-2). Trevar Carlson scored a team-high 11 points and Ethan Johns came off the bench and had 10. Filipiak had nine points and seven blocks (all in the first half), while eighth-grader Ben Humbert had a career-high nine points off the bench.
“Oh yea, every game,” Humbert said about getting more comfortable on varsity. “It’s a great group of guys to play with and I love it.”
Sean Fisher led Ely with 22 points, but only two came in the second half. Patrick Heiman added a double-double with 14 points and 14 rebounds.
“He had some guys step in and win the game for them,” said Timberwolves coach Tom McDonald, who admitted he didn’t know what defense to play after Dowty sat Filipiak and Anderson.
Anderson was held scoreless “for the first time in my life,” the sophomore said. The Broncos were also a horrendous 1-for-20 from 3-point range.
“You’d think we’d win a game like that. Not the case,” McDonald said about shutting down Filipiak and Anderson.
The Broncos can thank a stout defense and key reserves.
A lineup of starters Carlson and Nick Bujold and reserves Johns, Humbert and Josh Owen led the charge in the second half. Carlson, Bujold and reserve Marcus Zawchenuk took turns locking up Fisher in a box-and-one, while the offense moved the ball all over the place to get open looks. The rest of the defense held the Timberwolves to four points over the final nine minutes.
“It was nice,” Filipiak said. “A lot of effort from the other guys. We had good defense out there too.”
As frustration mounted for Ely, the Broncos built a 48-40 lead with four minutes left. Fisher committed an offensive foul and missed a gimme layup on back-to-back possessions to epitomize Ely’s second half.
Two minutes later with the Broncos holding a 50-42 lead, the combination of Owen, Johns, Carlson, Bujold and Humbert worked it around for over a minute before Carlson was fouled with 55 seconds to play. Owen blocked a Fisher shot with 13 seconds left to cap the win and give the Broncos five victories in a row.
“We want to win out, get that No. 1 seed in the section,” Filipiak said.
Friday’s result
I. Falls 66,
Mesabi East 54
Shawn Filipiak scored a team-high 18 points on the road Friday and International Falls defeated Mesabi East 66-54.
Trevar Carlson had 15 points, Nick Bujold scored 12 points and Gunnar Anderson added 10 points for the Broncos.
The Giants (7-9), a shell of the squad that won Section 7A last season, got a game-high 21 points from Garrett Larson and 16 points from Dan Settimi.
