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Boys basketball: Beauchamp scores 1,000th point in Flivvs’ win

Kingsford's Tyler Beauchamp goes up for a shot on Tuesday against Menominee in Menominee. (Brian Bell/The EagleHerald)

MENOMINEE — Every time the Menominee boys basketball team got close, Kingsford always had an answer with a big shot or a quick run to end the momentum and turn the game around.

The last Flivvers’ run came with just over four minutes remaining in the fourth quarter and it was enough to put the Maroons away and go home with a 78-68 Great Northern Conference win.

Flivvers senior Tyler Beauchamp eclipsed 1,000 career points in the win.

“It feels really good,” Beauchamp said, “from getting pulled up freshman year you would think it would be easy with four years to do it, but it’s a tough milestone and I’m glad I hit it.”

Beauchamp and Luke Terrian each led Kingsford (10-8) in scoring with 26 points, but in the fourth quarter all the Kingsford eyes in the gym were focused on Beauchamp.

“I thought we got a little bit tired in the third and fourth quarter when (Menominee) made some runs there and although they might not be as big as we are, they’re aggressive and they screen and fight hard out there,” Kingsford coach Dan Olkkonen said.

Beauchamp came into the game needing 22 points to eclipse 1,000 for his career and had 15 at the end of the third. He started with a basket inside, followed by a free throw to put him four points away from the milestone.

After burying a 3-pointer in the corner, he went to the free throw line with 1:36 left in the game and sank his first to achieve the milestone.

“Tyler had a fantastic night and that’s a very special accolade for him,” Olkkonen said. “He’s been great for us so far this year and I’m happy he got to get there.”

Kingsford took an early 7-2 lead in the first quarter before Menominee scored the next six points on two baskets from Keagan Monroe and one from Dante Sartorelli. After a corner 3-pointer from Brady Badker, Menominee held a 13-11 lead before the Flivvers ended the quarter on a 6-0 run to go up 17-11 after the first.

The Maroons (3-14, 0-8 GNC) played well defensively in the opening quarter minus a few mental lapses, forcing a handful of turnovers allowing them to stay close and hold the lead for a short time.

Sartorelli regained the lead for the Maroons to start the second quarter on a three-point play and a putback. Kingsford tied the game on a free throw, got the lead back on a Terrian basket before Menominee took a three-point lead on a Sartorelli 3-pointer and jumper from Aidan Bellisle.

After a Maroon timeout, Beauchamp drained a deep 3-pointer and made two double-bonus free throws with 4:07 remaining in the first half.

Menominee cut the deficit to two on a Bellisle 3-pointer and Sartorelli basket inside, but Kingsford ended the quarter on an 8-3 run to go into the half with a 39-34 advantage.

Sartorelli kept the Maroons close in the first half with 14 of his 16 points and Bellisle added eight.

“I thought we had a lot fire to start the game,” Menominee coach Sam Larson said. “I thought we executed our game plan pretty well and got into the sets we wanted and got the shots we were looking for. Dante brings a ton of energy and he keeps on getting more confident day by day. It was nice to see him play that well tonight.

“Defensively, we really tried to take away some of the things that (Kingsford) does and we forced some turnovers. We got them out of their flow and it took them a while to find it.”

Early in the second half, Kingsford started to find its flow.

Terrian started off with two baskets, Beauchamp made a pair of free throws and Nate Rutter hit a pull up 3-pointer to bring what was a 5-point halftime lead up to 11 at 48-37.

Kingsford’s lead got up to as many as 15 (52-37) before Menominee went on a run to get back in the game. Jayson Edington scored a basket, followed by a Monroe bucket inside and then Bellisle rattled home a triple to force the Flivvers into a timeout.

After Kingsford ended the third with three free throws, Menominee opened the fourth with back-to-back baskets from Monroe and Keaton Uecke to get to a three-point deficit. Rutter answered with a basket for the Flivvers, but two baskets from Uecke and Sartorelli cut the Kingsford lead to just one point at 58-57 with under six minutes to play.

Kingsford responded with a 5-3 run to lead 63-60 and Terrian bumped the advantage to six with a 3-pointer. Monroe scored on the other end for Menominee, but this time it was Beauchamp who answered with a 3-pointer to take a 69-62 lead.

“We had it down to one and three points late in the fourth quarter and that’s just one defensive stop or one more three that falls on offense, it’s just a game of possessions and each one is so valuable in a game like this that it makes all the difference in the world,” Larson said.

Assisting the scoring of Terrian and Beauchamp were Tyler Kopp and Cole Galeazzi with eight points and Andrew Mann adding five.

“For us, Luke is just a fun kid to watch and Tyler had a great game, but we got some other big baskets from Tyler and that was very nice to see,” Olkkonen said. “Cole did well in the first half and we’re just trying to build ourselves for next Monday when we play Houghton in districts.”

Monroe led Menominee with 20 points including 16 in the second half along with eight rebounds. Bellisle had 16 points, nine rebounds and four assists.

Menominee travels to Omro on Thursday and Kingsford hosts Forest Park today.

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