Scottie Boys Fall to Wolf Point, Malta

The Glasgow Scottie boys basketball team stepped out in front of their home crowd for the last time this season on Feb. 13. The starting line-up for the game included all five Scottie seniors-Kobe Sibley, Alec Boland, Tim Wageman, Saul Hansen and Jayson Turner.

Unfortunately, the festivities of senior night were short-lived after the Wolves finished out the first quarter ahead by three-13 to 16. That lead would have been more than manageable, but in the second half the Scottie boys slipped even further behind as the Wolves scored five three-point shots, three within the perimeter and went six for nine at the free-throw line to rack up a respectable 27 points in the second quarter. Playing against a fast-pace defense-offense combination, the Scotties managed to score only eight points in the second and went into the half down by a daunting 22 points. The Scotties would not stop trying to close the gap, though, but the effort would ultimately fail.

In the second half, the Scotties led in points scoring 14 to the Wolves 12 in the third and 20 to the Wolves 15 in the fourth. One area of improvement was a reduction in free-throw attempts for the Wolves. In the third the Wolves took no shots from the line and in the fourth they shot only four and of those made only three. Perimeter shooting was shut down for the Wolves as well and they scored only two the entire half.

The Scotties, on the other hand, drained three from the perimeter and shot eight for nine from the free-throw line. In the end, the third and fourth quarter rallies would reduce the gap between the two teams but would not be enough to overcome the 22-point lead going into the second half. The Scotties lost 55 to 70.

We started off well," explained head coach Paul Yoakam, before adding, "Wolf Point was able to make a big run in the second quarter fueled by five straight three's combined with a few forced turnovers."

Leading the team in points was Tim Wageman with 18 points. He was followed by Keigan Skolrud with 10, Saul Hansen with eight, Alec Boland with seven, Kobe Sibley with three, Bergen Miller with three, and Vinnie Chappell and Jaysen Turner with two points each.

The Scotties headed to Malta on Feb. 14 to take on their rivals the Mustangs and, although a much closer game, they were unable to hold on, up losing that game by nine-42 to 51.

Yoakam siad the team, "did a better job of working through our offense. We were able to maintain our team defense throughout most of the game and made a nice run at them towards the end. This was great to see heading into this week's tournament."

Leading the Scotties in points during the game was Alec Boland with 19 points. He was followed by Keigan Skolrud with eight points, and Saul Hanson with six points.

The Scotties will return to Malta for the District Tournament starting on Thursday, Feb. 20, and running through Saturday, Feb. 22.