Blaine coach Bernie Ward gives his players a ton of credit for the extreme effort they gave to get to the tournament for the first time in 10 years.
“Just the amount of time they put in is one of the biggest things,” Ward said. They’ve worked really hard at the game. Worked really hard on their individual games and the context of being a team. That’s the biggest reason. The players have worked really hard.”
Blaine has a 22-8 record and is the number 8 seed in the tournament. The Bengals battle top-seed Tartan Tuesday at Target Center. According to Ward, a key to the Bengals success is Blaine’s offense that is fueled by precision and constant movement.
“Our offense this year compared to last year has a lot more cutting in it,” Ward said. “A lot more motion. I think in a lot of ways it’s a little bit harder to guard. I think that’s given us some easier buckets some times. If you watch that last section final game we had some clutch buckets and some clutch cuts.”
Bengals guard Shiloh Ayitey thinks their up-tempo style makes Blaine a tough team to play.
“We’re a fast-paced team,” Ayitey said. “A lot of the teams in our section couldn’t handle our speed. We kind of took that to our advantage. A lot of people think we’re small but we’re super fast. We use that a lot and we out-speed teams throughout the game.”
Playing in Ant’s house
The chance to play at Target Center gives Blaine extra motivation. Bengals guard Henry Semans is pumped up to be playing in the same arena that Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves call home.
“It’s a really awesome opportunity that not a lot of people get to have so we’re gonna make the most of it for sure,” Semans said…It’s going to be a surreal moment honestly. Best of the best play there every night. I’ve grown up going to Target Center watching games so it’s going to be awesome to play.”
Ayitey echoes what Semans says and can’t wait to play in an NBA venue.
“Yeah it’s really cool,” Ayitey said. “You get a feel for what the NBA players do and it’s really exciting that we get to play on that court.”
The anticipation for Blaine’s trip to state is clearly building. Coach Ward hopes the Bengals can shine in the tournament spotlight.
“Hopefully we’ll be firing on all cylinders,” Ward said. “Hopefully we’ll be playing the best we can.”
Ward is in his second year coaching at Blaine. While they are in the tournament the Bengals are going to stay at a hotel in downtown Minneapolis.
