Boys lose in first two games

The Glasgow boys' basketball team didn't get the start to the season they wanted. The Scotties dropped both of their games this weekend, losing to Scobey and Glendive to start the season 0-2.

While the final scores may not have been what the Scotties were looking for, the weekend was an opportunity for the still inexperienced team to learn some simple lessons, head coach Norm Braaten said.

“We made some progress,” Braaten said. “We have a long way to go. I think the kids realize we have a lot of work ahead of us. Potentially, we showed some good moments, but we have to sustain that over a long period of time.”

In the pair of losses there were small things that led to the team's demise, many of them fixable. Unforced turnovers, not getting back on defense and getting caught in traps led to long runs for the opposition.

“They're too good and we're too inexperienced right now,” Braaten said. “We're still looking for some kids to step up.”

On Friday, the Scotties headed up to Scobey to take on a feisty Spartan team. The Scotties had a decided height advantage over the Spartans, but a few stretches of bad play tore Glasgow down, giving Scobey a 38-33 win.

Neither team seemed able to get into a groove in the early part of the game. The first field goal of the game wasn't scored until three minutes in and both teams had racked up three fouls by the end of the first quarter. Scobey lead after the opening frame 7-6, but Glasgow would have an answer. The Scotties retook the lead halfway through the second quarter in the middle of a 6-0 run that put them in the lead 16-14 at halftime.

But after the break the wheel's started to fall off the wagon for the Scotties. Scobey stole the opening pass-in from the Scotties and took it to the other end for an easy lay-up to tie the score. The basket was the beginning of a 15-0 run that lasted for nearly the first six minutes of the third quarter.

The Scotties fought back in the fourth but the damage from the Spartans' run had given the home team enough of a cushion to hold off Glasgow for the 38-33 win.

Things didn't get much better for the Scotties in Saturday's road game against Glendive. The Red Devils jumped on Glasgow early, pulling away to a 23-5 lead after the first quarter.

Again, the Scotties made a late push but the tenacious defense wore them down late, with Glendive outscoring them 21-5 in the fourth quarter. Glendive won the game 69-39.

The Red Devils' Christian Hannesson was nearly unstoppable, scoring 32 in the victory. Patrick Billingsley led the Scotties with 15 points on the night.

“We're not making any major changes,” Braaten said. “We're just going to go back and emphasize the little steps. We're skipping too many steps (right now). They're such good kids and they work hard. They just have to put that with playing smart.”

The Scotties get another chance at notching their first win of the season when they head to Three Forks to play in the Luzenac Classic. Glasgow opens up against Big Timber on Friday.