Battle of Two Counties: Mavs Upset the Scotties and Win Revenge

In an intense battle that was fired up with the flavor of neighborhood rivalry, the Class C Hinsdale/Saco/Whitewater Mavericks took out the Glasgow Scotties and avenged their blowout loss earlier in December. This came one day after the Scotties also lost to the Class A Sidney at the GHS gym.

The North Country JV boys also won a tight game after trailing for most of the four quarters. Maverick sophomore Chris DePuydt's three with mere seconds left on the clock edged out the Glasgow JV team, 45-43.

"Our defense won the game," said North Country head coach Mitch Capdeville. "Our boys play hard in every game, but this was the hardest I've ever seen them play. After we got beat 66-33 in Glasgow last December I told the team, 'This will not happen again.' And they took it to heart," said Capdeville.

Capdeville also told the Courier that his young crew is playing together better now. "They move the ball better. Not consistently yet, but we are getting better as we go," said Capdeville. North Country is currently sitting at third place in 3C, behind Scobey and Frazer. On the schedule this week for the Mavericks are Frazer and Nashua.

As for the Scotties, at 4-8 overall and 2-2 conference, the team knows that it needs to focus on winning conference games down the stretch in order to have a favorable seeding going into the district tournament. With Luke Breigenzer out on his foot injury for two more weeks, and Cade Myrick hurting his ankle on a layup foul in Saco, head coach Norm Braaten recognizes that not having all players present for several practices in a row has hurt their offensive execution.

The Scotties will meet the Poplar Indians again this Friday in Poplar, and will look to repeat the win from January 2. On Saturday, Class A Dawson County Red Devils come to town.

Sidney 59, Glasgow 40

Scottie Tyler Hersom got the scoreboard going with 2-for-3 free throws three minutes into the first quarter. Glasgow fought a strong first quarter which briefly tied then ended with Sidney up by only two, 11-9.

Despite a reasonably close third (13-11) and fourth quarter (16-12), it was the second quarter that the Eagles got away with a 19-8 run from a series of turnovers by the Scotties. The score was 30-17 at the half.

It didn't help that Sidney also hit nine three-pointers. Braaten pointed out that although Glasgow put up a good defense, Sidney was good at beating one-on-one defender then, getting double-teamed, dishing out to an open player for the threes.

Scottie seniors Zach Miller and Ethan Etchart both got into double-digit scoring--13 and 10, respectively. Cade Myrick added 7, Tyler Hersom 5 (all free throws), Trent Herbert and Bryce Legare both scored 2, and Chase Hughes added 1. Although the Scotties got bonus shots in both halves, they went 8-15 from the free-throw line.

Junior Brett Norby led the Eagles with 18 points, including three treys. Cade Strasheim and Jared Steinbeisser both had 8, followed by Quinn McGlothlin, James Rohner and Dawson McGlothlin all with 5, Michael McGinnis 4, and Alec Lovegren, Austin Watterson and Bridger Larson all with 2. They were 4-4 from the line.

North Country 39, Glasgow 33

Whenever Glasgow tightened its man-to-man defense, its impact on the Mavs' errors was immediate. However, it was the Mavericks' intense pressure and fight for second chances throughout the game that kept the Glasgow offense to only 33 points.

Teammates on the football field then foes on basketball court, the Mavericks and Scotties traded buckets in the first quarter which concluded with the Mavs in the lead, 11-7. Glasgow did outscore the Mavs in the second quarter, 12-7. Chase Hughes' three just before the half had the Scotties take back the lead, 19-18.

However, North Country would outscore Glasgow in both third (11-6) and fourth (10-8) quarters.

Despite four fast breaks by Glasgow's Ethan Etchart in the second half, the hoop did not cooperate and none converted in Glasgow's favor. What seemed like bad luck continued as his free throws from Cache Younkins' technical foul rolled in and bounced out.

With about two minutes left in the fourth quarter, Scottie freshman Cade Myrick exited the floor due to ankle injury from a hard layup foul. Glasgow's inside game diminished in his absence, and their long shots did not fall. The non-conference contest ended with the Mavs winning by six.

Leading the North Country on the scoreboard was Cache Younkin with 12 points, followed by Trace Simonson 8, Logan McColly and Layne Engel 7, Chris DePuydt 3, and John McColly 2. The team went 6-8 from the free-throw line.

Off the glass, the Mavs grabbed 31 rebounds: Trace Simonson 8, Cache Younkin 5, Logan McColly 5, Chris DePuydt 5, Channing Mavencamp 5, and Layne Engel 3.

For the Scottie, Trent Herbert was the high scorer with ten points. Myrick added 9, Zach Miller 6, Etchart 3, Hughes 3, and Bryce Legare 2 (free throws). They went 5-9 from the free-throw line.