Weiser girls play strong in Tri-County Classic

Published by admin on Wed, 12/23/2020 - 9:12pm

The 3A Lady Wolverines played in a three day tournament against Canyon County 4A schools. The Tri-County Classic was held Thursday, Friday and Saturday against Columbia, Caldwell and Nampa high schools. Above, Maddy Erickson takes an inside shot as Mattie Shirts (45) and Jenifer Juarez (11) get ready for a rebound. Photo by Michelle Estes
By: 
Michelle Estes
Coming off a conference win against the Fruitland Grizzlies on Tuesday the Lady Wolverines hoped to play solid in the Tri-County Classic in Canyon County versus three 4A schools, Columbia, Caldwell, and Nampa. 
Thursday, Dec 17
Weiser wins 45, Columbia 40 
 In the first matchup Weiser faced Columbia. Early in the first quarter, Weiser and Columbia traded missed shots at each end. Three minutes into the game Columbia worked the ball inside for the first score of the game.
 Columbia played much of the game in a full court press trying to stop the Wolverines from getting their offense going.   
 The Wildcats picked up six quick fouls putting Weiser in the bonus with a little under two minutes left in the first period. 
 The two teams were fairly evenly matched. At the end of the first quarter the score was Weiser 10, Columbia 14. 
 In the second period Weiser let the Wildcats get ahead by nine points. Midway through the quarter the Wolverines started chipping away at the lead. With a few steals and buckets by Weiser’s Maddy Erickson the game was tied at 21 with two minutes left. The half ended, Weiser 21, Columbia 23.
 In the third quarter the Lady Wolverines did a good job of driving to the bucket drawing four Wildcat fouls. Mattie Shirts held her own coming up with much needed rebounds. 
 Jenifer Juarez had a strong rebound and put backs to give Weiser a three-point lead. 
 The score was tied at 28 at the end of the third quarter.  
 Weiser turned the ball over multiple times giving Columbia the momentum and an eight-point lead with just over five minutes left in the fourth quarter.
 Not to be denied, the Wolverines tied the game at 40 with 2:53 left and took a two-point lead with 1:48 left.   
 Shirts was sent to the charity stripe with 47 seconds remaining. She made  one of her foul shots and widened the lead to four points. Shirts went to the line again with 10 seconds left and connected on one free throw. Weiser held on to the lead winning 45-40.  
Friday, Dec 18 
Weiser lost 39, Caldwell 44 
 Weiser played a tough Caldwell squad on Friday night. The Cougars finished third in the 2020 State Championships last season.   
 In the first period the Wolverines held their own and drove to the basket where the Cougars committed fouls sending Weiser to the line. At the end of the first Weiser had three fouls and Caldwell five. The score was Weiser 9, Caldwell 21. 
 Caldwell had the size advantage and rebounded well. Wolverine Mattie Shirts worked and battled to secure rebounds for the Wolverines. 
 A tough second quarter the Wolverine defense caused the Cougars to hesitate and travel on two different possessions. Weiser took advantage and narrowed Caldwell’s lead to 10 points.  
 The Cougars stepped up their game and started a scoring run. The second quarter ended with Weiser unable to score again and the scoreboard showed Weiser 13, Caldwell 32. 
 Both teams slowed the game down in the third quarter which was to the Wolverine’s advantage. Weiser narrowed Caldwell’s lead to 15 by the end of the third period and it was Weiser 21, Caldwell 36. 
   Shirts scored first in the fourth quarter. With about five minutes left, Weiser had a spark of life with a couple of buckets by Erickson and a nice top of the key jumper by Elle Svedin.
 The Lady Wolverines know how to score in the last quarter and Friday night was no exception. Going into the fourth Weiser had scored a total of 21 points. In the fourth alone they scored 18 points. The game ended with a Weiser loss, 39-44. 
Saturday, Dec 19
Weiser lost 31, Nampa 51
 Saturday morning Weiser travelled to Nampa High School to take on the Bulldogs. 
 Early in the first quarter Nampa drilled multiple shots to take the lead but Weiser ramped up their defensive pressure getting multiple stops. Erickson put up the first score for Weiser after two minutes with a rebound and shot.
 Throughout the contest Weiser looked for shots on the inside and Nampa took shots beyond the three point line. In the first period Weiser was trading two’s for three’s with Nampa hitting five three pointers. The quarter ended with Weiser 9, Nampa 17.
 To start the second quarter Tobie Noyer drained a three pointer bringing Weiser within five points. With 4:26 left it was Weiser 14, Nampa 17.
 Weiser struggled to connect on long passes. Nampa took advantage and scored seven quick points. 
 With about a minute left Juarez connected on a post move after a rebound. Soon afterwards Rhianna Soliz sunk a short jumper. Going into the locker room the score was Weiser 18, Nampa 24. 
 Nampa picked up the speed of their game in the third quarter causing Weiser to turn the ball over and giving the Bulldogs a chance to score nine points in three minutes while Weiser scored two.
 Weiser took a timeout and went back to their man-to-man defense increasing their own intensity. The Wolverines were able to reduce the Bulldog lead and the third period ended Weiser 29, Nampa 40. 
 Early in the fourth quarter both teams struggled to score and Weiser committed a couple of costly fouls sending Nampa to the line. 
 Weiser was unable to stop the Cougars and the game ended in a loss for Weiser, 31-51.

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