Scotties Fall to Roundup in OT Nailbiter, Lose to Baker on the Road

The Scottie boys basketball team suffered two losses this past week, with a disappointing loss to the Roundup Panthers in overtime on Dec. 6 and a loss to the Baker Spartans on the road Dec. 7. The Scotties struggled to maintain control of the ball in both contests, with an average of 25 turnovers per game, however there was a marked improvement from the game vs. Roundup to the game vs. Baker. "I'm just hoping that was first-game jitters," head coach Norm Braaten said with a shrug. "We had five travel calls, too and I haven't seen that all year."

Jitters aside, the hometown boys played their first game of the season like it was their last and put on a good show. The energy in Scottie Gymnasium was high as fans from both Roundup and Glasgow were on their feet for most of the final minutes of the contest.

While the Panthers maintained a consistent pattern of scoring each quarter, Glasgow's score fluctuated by five or more points from one quarter to the next. It was enough to make things exciting, however, and at the end of regulation minutes, the game was knotted up at 43.

The Scotties poured on the defense in an effort to gain the lead, but were unable to outplay Roundup in the final minutes and the Panthers secured the 54-51 win. Scoring for Glasgow was led by Kobe Sibley with 13 points, Chevy Boos with 12 points and Alec Boland with 10 points. Boos also earned a double-double in the game with his 12 points and 11 total rebounds.

The defensive effort of the Scotties was reflected in the number of fouls recorded in the game. Glasgow racked up 22 fouls with both Tayson Hoerster and Brett Glaser achieving the maximum of five fouls each. Roundup's Makale Kembel was the only player to reach that milestone on their team.

The Scotties struggled at the charity stripe also, with a success rate of just 25 percent.

The game against the Spartans the following night was more subdued. Glasgow started strong in the first half, scoring 22 of their total points. The second half, however, produced just half the number of points for the Scotties. As the high-scorer for the Scotties, Boland hit double digits again and finished with 10 points in the contest. He also led in total rebounds with five.

Braaten points to the Scottie's defense as one of their biggest weaknesses right now, which is what they were working on during practice while we spoke. "We've got a lot of kids working hard," he emphasized. "Some of it is just too individualistic, though and they need to start communicating better."

Braaten acknowledged the different dynamic in the team this year with the loss of three key players, Cade Myrick, Bryce Legare and Alex Fransen. "Bryce and Alex could guard anybody, really, and Cade dominated the ball. All these boys had to do last year was catch the ball and take a shot, so they've got to communicate with each other and pull it all together."

The Scotties host North Country this Friday, Dec. 14, then are on the road to Sidney on Saturday, Dec. 15.

Roundup 54, Glasgow 51 (OT)

Roundup 11 12 11 9 11 - 54

Glasgow 9 14 7 13 8 – 51

Roundup: M. Kembel 5, K. Griffith 6, B. Dahl 12, C. Bradley 9, T. Rae 22. Three-point field goals: K. Griffith 2, T. Rae 3. Fouled out: M. Kembel. Free throw percentage: 52.4 percent.

Glasgow: K. Sibley 13, A. Boland 10, T. Hoerster 7, B. Glaser 3, V. Chappell 3, S. Hansen 3, C. Boos 12. Three-point field goals: K. Sibley 3, A. Boland 2, V. Chappell 1, S. Hansen 1. Fouled out: T. Hoerster, B. Glaser. Free throw percentage: 25 percent. Starters: Kobe Sibley, Alec Boland, Tayson Hoerster, Chevy Boos and Tim Wageman.

Baker 49, Glasgow 33

Baker 9 10 14 16 – 49

Glasgow 11 11 5 6 – 33

Baker: C.Peterson 15, R. O'Donnell 11, J. Wang 8, C. Ploeger 5, S. Shelhamer 5, T. Madler 3, K. Flint 2.

Glasgow: K. Sibley 4, A. Boland 10, B. Glaser 4, C. Boos 8, T. Wageman 4. Three-point field goals: K. Sibley 1, A. Boland 1. Free throw percentage: 75 percent. Starters: Kobe Sibley, Alec Boland, Tayson Hoerster, Chevy Boos and Tim Wageman.