Weiser boys pummel Payette 63-28 at home

The Weiser varsity boys basketball team bounced back from a tough loss to the Fruitland Grizzlies on Jan. 12 with a blowout win three days later against Payette at home on Tuesday, Jan. 15.

 The game was never in doubt as the Wolverines held a lead of 30 points in the third quarter on their way to a 63-28 conference win over the Pirates. 

 With the win, Weiser’s record improves to 2-1 in SRV Conference play and 9-6 overall.

 Weiser was one step ahead of Payette the entire game, dominating the boards on both ends of the court with 38 rebounds to Payette’s 17 rebounds. 

 The Wolverines also handled the ball better against Payette, giving up only 10 turnovers in the game, which was half of the Pirates’ 22 turnovers.

 Weiser shot 25-for-61 on total fieldgoals from the floor. The Wolverines knocked down six 3-pointers out of 25 attempts from beyond the arc, and shot a nearly perfect 7-for-8 at the free-throw line. 

 “At times we did some good stuff. We moved the basketball around. We shot it better than we did at Fruitland,” Weiser coach Brad Adolfson said. “In the first half, I thought we shot really quickly. In the second half I thought we worked the ball around a lot better.” 

 Weiser started the scoring early in the first period with a semi-alley oop that worked out for two points. 

 Braden Bumgarner put the ball up and Caleb Harris tipped it in for two points. Harris had another rebound and putback for Weiser’s first four points.

 A 3-pointer by Payette’s Roque Banuelos got the Pirates on the scoreboard with their first points. 

 Weiser’s Brett Spencer and Ande Jensen also hit 3-pointers in the first period to put the Wolverines in front early 12-5.

 Weiser passed the ball around looking for the open player and a clear shot. A wide-open Bumgarner sank a 3-pointer after getting a pass from Spencer. 

 At the end of the first period, Weiser was up by six points at 15-9 and never trailed again in the game.

 Early in the second quarter, Jensen drained another 3-pointer from outside – the second of his three 3-pointers in the game. Another four quick points by Weiser and the rout was on as the Wolverines were up 22-11. 

 Payette narrowed Weiser’s lead to 12 points to 30-18 right before the halftime buzzer with another 3-point basket by Banuelos, who had seven points in the game.

 At the end of the third quarter, Weiser was in charge with one quarter to go and the score stood 50-20. The Wolverines outscored the Pirates 20-2 in the third quarter to build on their lead.

 With a 30-point lead and the game well in hand, Adolfson pulled the varsity starters and put in some JV players to give them some quality playing time on the court.

 With two minutes left in the game, Weiser scored a flurry of points through steals and fastbreaks, running the score up from 56-27 to the final score of 63-28. 

 A total of 13 Weiser players put points on the scoreboard. Ande Jensen led the Wolverines in scoring with 11 points, including three 3-pointers. Braden Bumgarner was a perfect 5-for-5 on freethrows and scored 10 points. Justin Estes had a good night with seven points. Hayden Wilson-Palmer and Caleb Harris each contributed six points. 

 Rounding out the scoring for Weiser, Brett Spencer scored five points. Nate Turner and Nathaniel Mink contributed four points each. Tim Reed, Nate Lattin, Angel Magana, Isiah Daniel and Tyler Pope each scored two points.

 Weiser traveled to Nampa Christian on Saturday for a non-conference game. The Wolverines resume conference play on Thursday at home against Homedale.