Weiser boys’ basketball faced Fruitland for the District Championship on Tuesday, February 21, 2012. All season, the Wolverines have looked good. The same cannot be said on this particular night. Actually, neither team looked comfortable. There is a great deal of passion for the game when these two teams tangle and tangle is an appropriate term for what occurred this past evening. Both teams had a large number of turnovers and emotions were running high. Weiser would lead for three quarters of the game but Fruitland maintained their poise and found a way to take the lead and keep it winning the game 42-37. The fact that not one foul was called in the first quarter was an indicator of how the referees, the best in the 5A division to boot, felt the teams should just play through the bumping and physical contact. Both teams complied with this request.
Starters for this game were Drew McKie, Elias Daniel, Issac Zanelli, Tyler Hemphill and Justin Roberts. Zanelli would twist his ankle early in the game and virtually be ineffective for the rest of the game. This hurt. However, on a good note, Brock Bumgarner came in off the bench and ended up as high point man. McKie had a lot of rejections in the first half. Roberts stole the ball, lost the handle under the Weiser basket. Fruitland appeared to pick up the loose ball until Daniel stole the ball and put it through the hoop. McKie had his third rejection. Zanelli stole the ball. Bumgarner putback the “O” rebound. Bumgarner picked up the loose ball under the Wolverine basket and hit the reversed shot, 6-6. McKie to Bumgarner for two with under a minute to play in the first quarter. Hemphill had the steal and Bumgarner the finishing lay-up. Bumgarner tipped a Fruitland pass to keep Weiser in the lead 10-6 at the end of the first.
Fruitland scored off a fastbreak and then hit the next shot to tie the game. Roberts to Bumgarner for two more. Bumgarner to Hemphill with the drive. Hemphill pulled up for the three point shot, 15-12. Daniel putback an “O” rebound. Hemphill passed to Roberts on the right wing. Roberts zipped the ball towards the basket as McKie leaped and caught the ball placing it into the cylinder. OOOOOHHHHHHH! Daniel on the defensive end leaped up and pulled the rebound out of a Fruitland players hands from behind. WOW! Weiser led at the half 19-12.
McKie was fouled making his first free throw. McKie drove the middle, dished to Hemphill on the outside right baseline for three, 23-14. Roberts drained two free throws. Fruitland began to make up ground while Weiser struggled to find the basket. Derek Reyes fought for the offensive rebound and put it through the hoop for two. At the end of the third quarter, Weiser 27, Fruitland 23.
In the top of the fourth quarter, Roberts sank two more free throws. Fruitland drew to within a point at 6:38. McKie hit a long two, 31-28. At 5:26, Fruitland took the lead for good. Roberts hit a 12 footer, 34-33 Fruitland. Fruitland also went for the full court defense stifling Weiser’s ball movement. McKie made one more free throw. Weiser took a shot, the ball missed, Daniel had the rebound but the ball was literally ripped out of his hands and no foul was called. The game had less than a minute to go. Weiser had to foul to have any kind of chance at a comeback. Fruitland made enough free throws to ice the game despite Hemphill to Daniel for a three in the waning seconds of the game. Weiser would lose to Fruitland 42-37. Fruitland has won the last 10 straight District Titles. It is time for a new leader!
Scoring: Bumgarner 10, Daniel 7, Hemphill, Roberts and McKie 6 each and Reyes 2.
No comments:
Post a Comment