Scottie Boys and Girls Fall to Wildcats, Spartans

The Scottie boys basketball team met up with the Harlem Wildcats on the floor of the Scottie gymnasium on Feb. 6, but the outcome was nowhere close to what the team expected walking out on the court that evening.

In the beginning, the game seemed to be unfolding like many others. By the end of the first quarter, the Scottie boys trailed by a single point against the Wildcats (17-18). Then in the second they fell slightly but maintained a manageable point spread of five points going into the half (29-34).

Early on in the first quarter Scottie tall-men Keigan Skolrud and Tim Wageman made progress underneath scoring a collective 15 points-six for Wageman and nine for Skolrud. In the second quarter Wageman would continue with six total points but Skolrud would go uncharacteristically scoreless in the second quarter. Making up the slack would be Alec Boland who put up six points-to include four-for-four from the free-throw line. Aside from those three players, no other Scotties would score in the first half.

In the third quarter, Harlem would begin a run of points that would outmatch Glasgow by over two-and-a-half times the points (10-26). That point ratio would close out the third quarter with a 21-point difference between the two teams (39-60). The pace would go unanswered in the fourth quarter, however, as the Wildcats again put up 26 points while the Scotties only managed to connect with the basket for 16 points. In the end, the Scotties would lose by 31 points, ending the game with a score of 55 to 86.

In a comment to the Courier, head coach Paul Yoakam stated, "We executed really well in the first half. We were able to handle their pressure as a team while playing without Sibley. We lost a lot of our focus in the second half and Harlem was able to take advantage of that. Hopefully Sibley is ready to go this week but we don't want to rush it."

Leading the team in points was Alec Boland with a total of 22 points-nine from inside the perimeter and four from the free-throw line. Following up on Boland's heels was Wageman with 18 total points inside the perimeter. In an uncharacteristic third for point totals was Keigan Skolrud who banked his lowest point total this season at 13 total points. The only other Scottie on the board was Hunter Collinsworth who put up two in the fourth quarter.

Perhaps the most odd event to grace the floor was the lopsidedness of the referees. In the first half the Harlem Wildcats were called for fouling nine times. When compared with the Scotties low foul count of two in the first half the discrepancy is stark. In the second half the foul count (and the referees) were reversed, and the Scotties were called for fouling nine times, while the Wildcats were called for fouling only four times.

The next day, Scobey defeat Glasgow, 76-40. No stats were available by press time, but coach Yoakam stated, "Their height and athleticism got to us early and we weren't able to recover from their big first quarter. Experiencing the pressure that they are able to apply should help us going into a big weekend with Wolf Point and Malta."

The Scotties play again for Senior Night on Feb. 13 against Wolf Point in the Scottie Gymnasium before heading to Malta for Valentine's Day on Feb. 14. Next week, from Feb. 20 through 22, the Scotties will travel to Malta to participate in in the District tournament.