GARLAND — Bear River senior Wade Bronson learned what it takes to be a BMOC (big man on campus) on Wednesday night.
Four dunks, two blocked shots on consecutive possessions during a decisive second-quarter run, a couple of no-look passes and a total of 14 points in Bear River's surprisingly easy 75-48 win over Box Elder made Bronson the focal point of attention as he emerged from his team's locker room following the victory.
Cheerleaders hugged him, little kids told him how great he was, and his teammates slapped him on the back.
Bronson, however, wanted none of the praise.
"We've got eight seniors, and so everybody steps up in different games," Bronson said. "There's no one person."
The Bears, ranked No. 1 in 3A, do have a variety of weapons that can beat their opponents. Four players averaged scoring in double figures prior to Wednesday's game, and three reached double digits against the Bees.
None did so as emphatically as Bronson.
He set the tone for his night early with a first-quarter dunk. And then during a 10-0 run to open the second quarter, Bronson blocked two shots and jammed a breakaway dunk to give the Bears a 25-14 lead. Box Elder never got within single digits again, and the Bears cruised to their fourth straight victory.
"I thought it was going to be closer," said Bear River guard Isaac Ericksen. "I thought they'd give us more of a match. We made them lose their confidence. We kept our control and made them lose their temper, and that's what we wanted to do."
Ericksen played the role of garbage man, as he cleaned up loose balls in the paint and put them in the basket. He finished with a game-high 21 points with one 3-pointer. Guard Matt Weyland chipped in 13 points.
Bear River, using a variety of effective defenses, challenged passes and shots throughout the night. The Bears got 34 tips on defense, and limited Box Elder sophomore Brant Mecham to just 11 points. Mecham entered the game averaging 20 points per contest.
Bronson said the strategy for stopping the Bees, who dropped to 2-2 on the season, was simple.
"We just knew they didn't have much of an inside game, and we had to stop their 3-ball," he said.
