Weiser comes from behind to win district tournament game

The Weiser Wolverine men continued in their district tournament play on Tuesday, Feb 23 at home hosting the Homedale Trojans.
 Earlier in the season the Wolverines defeated the Trojans twice, the second time with a three-pointer at the buzzer to win by one.
 The Wolverines came out strong in the first quarter, stalled in the second, and finally able to finish on top for a 50 to 44 win.  
 Weiser’s Brett Spencer scored the first points of the game with a three-pointer at the top of the arc. Next trip on offense he added another three from the same location.
 Homedale not to be stopped tied the game at six halfway through the first.
 Evan Haggerty who had a great night for the Wolverines, made a shot underneath as he was fouled. At the line he gave Weiser the lead back with 3:32 to go.
 Eli Ruiz, playing solid defense, had a steal and drove the length of the court, giving Weiser a five point lead.
 Homedale added a few buckets of their own. With less than 10 seconds remaining in the first quarter, the Trojans hit a deep three-pointer to end the first, Weiser 13, Homedale 12.
 Both teams stalled out in the second, unable to get good shots off. The score remained the same for over three minutes of play. Homedale scored first with a bucket and a trip to the free throw line giving them a two point lead.
 The score remained unchanged until there was only 2:30 left in the half when Weiser’s Haggerty had a nice rebound and put back. These were the Wolverines only points in second quarter.
 The Trojans capitalized on a couple of Wolverine ball handling errors scoring easy lay-ins. The half ended Weiser 15, Homedale 20.
 Coming out of the locker room, Weiser was a changed team. With less than 15 seconds off the clock on a baseline inbounds play, Ruiz fed Spencer in the corner for a three-pointer.
 Midway through the third, Haggerty made a nice pass to Sam Kerner as he cut into the key and was able to make a short jump shot.
 After a Wolverine defense stop, Kerner reciprocated when he found Haggerty open on the block for a nice lay-in. It was Weiser 22, Homedale 26 with four minutes to play in the third.
 Homedale held strong, slowly adding to their lead. With 12 seconds remaining in the third, the Trojans made another three-pointer and a nine point lead.   
 The Wolverines quickly responded advancing the ball up the court to Willy Shirts where he was able to get the ball to fall with an eight foot jumper at the buzzer.
 The third ended with Weiser behind by seven points, 28 to 35.
 The Wolverine defense kicked it up a notch with multiple steals and nice defensive stops. They were able to slow down the Trojan scoring while adding to their own.   
 With 2:43 remaining in the game, Kerner had a clean steal for Weiser. He passed the ball up court to Ruiz for a fast break lay-in and tying the game at 41.
 The teams traded buckets and with 1:15 left it was Weiser 43, Homedale 44.
 With under 40 seconds remaining on a baseline inbounds play, Ruiz connected with Spencer in the corner for a three-pointer to give Weiser a two point lead.
 The remainder of the game was fast and furious as Homedale tried to gain control.  With Weiser playing well and focused, they were able to end the game with a 50 to 44 win.
 The Wolverines hosted Parma in the consolation championship game on Thursday.
 Weiser scoring: Spencer 21, Haggerty 15, Kerner eight, Ruiz four, and Shirts two.