Jamestown High School boys basketball team notched a 22-0 lead Saturday afternoon and they never looked back.
"There's not much I can say about this game other than positive things," JHS head coach Jacoby Lloyd said.
Lloyd and his squad took it to Watford City, topping the Wolves 85-42. Jamestown has moved to 4-5 in the West Region standings and is split evenly at 5-5 overall.
Watford City is still winless at 0-9 in conference and 0-10 overall.
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The Blue Jays only have one game slated for next week, a road tilt at St. Mary's on Tuesday. First tip is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
Mason Lunzman laid in a two-point bucket and buried one from deep to kick off the Jays' early 22-0 lead. Lunzman, a junior, knocked down four of his five 3s in the first half en route to his 20 total points.
"We talked to Mason all week about how he is a good shooter and how he needs to be a shooter in our program and search out shots," Lloyd said.
"In the gym, he knocks down almost everything but then in games, he is a little bit tentative. Today, he knew to search out his shot and I think he did a really nice job."
Both Ryan Larson and Noah Meissner put up 10 in the first half. Lloyd said he was greatly impressed with Larson's rebounding capabilities and complimented Meissner's progression in becoming more aggressive and understanding that the Jays need his ability to get into the paint and score when opportunities present themselves.
"I thought Ryan Larson had a really good game," Lloyd said. "He's the one that picked up all of the rebounding slack right away and then Devin Beach joined in on that later."
Meissner was the high-scorer with 23 total points — 13 of which came in the second half. Larson tied Lunzman's total 20.
Senior starters Adam Kallenbach and Luke Van Berkom did not participate in Saturday's contest. Van Berkom sprained his ankle in practice on Wednesday while Kallenbach is nursing a bout of sickness.
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Lloyd predicted both seniors will be back in the lineup for the Jays' tilt against St. Mary's.
Still, even without their three-year varsity teammates out on the floor, the Jays held steady, knocking down 12 buckets from inside and seven from downtown.
The home team ended the first up 50-17.
The Blue Jays began the second with a 12-1 run that spanned more than six minutes. Josiah Rojas went 2-for-2 at the line to make it 62-20 but the Wolves had no real answers for the Jays' energy and steady hand inside.
A three-pointer from Lunzman extended the Jays' lead to 41 with 7:40 to play. The Jays and Wolves exchanged shots the last seven minutes but the Jays outscored Watford 15-13.
Jahneim Samuel was the Wolves' leading scorer with 17 total points.
Lloyd said that Beach and Preston Kroeber also contributed to the Jays' success, keeping the team's energy levels high by executing the nitty-gritty elements of the game like diving on the floor for balls and boxing out.
"Our kids stepped up and they performed," Lloyd said. "They went out and played the Blue Jay style of basketball. I think we showed flashes of what we are capable of when we share the basketball and play aggressively."
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Jamestown 85, Watford City 42
WC 17 25 — 42
JHS 50 35 — 85
WC — Jahneim Samuel 17, Calvin Garmaan 6, Jacob Berg 6, Colton Ewing 4, Josiah Rojas 3, Landon Caldwell 3, Jalen Stickland 2, Eli Lawrence 1. Totals: 16 FG, 9-16 FT, 12 fouls. 3-pointers: Samuel 1.
JHS — Meissner 23, Larson 20, Lunzman 20, Dalton Lamp 9, Kroeber 7, Beach 4, Thomas Newman 2. Totals: 35 FG, 3-7 FT, 19 fouls. 3-pointers: Meissner 5, Lunzman 5, Lamp 1, Newman 1.
