Weiser pounds Payette 72-19 to end regular season

The Weiser High School boys basketball team finished the regular season at home at Tom Falash Gymnasium with a 72-19 blowout win over conference rival Payette last Wednesday.
 The Wolverines took charge early and scored nearly at will against a young and inexperienced Payette team that had few offensive weapons.
 Payette’s Cace Lewis prevented a shutout in the first quarter with a 3-pointer to get the Pirates on the scoreboard with less than a minute left on the clock.
 The outmatched Pirates struggled with turnovers all night long, many of them forced by the aggressive defensive play by Weiser. Weiser held a 22-3 lead at the end of the first quarter.
 The Pirates had a better second quarter and scored 11 points, but they were unable to contain the Weiser offense. The game quickly got out of reach for Payette, which trailed 43-14 at the end of the second quarter.
 With the game well in hand by halftime, Weiser coach Brad Adolfson let everyone on the bench get in some playing time on senior night. All 11 seniors got some minutes in on the court, and a total of 13 Weiser players scored points.
 “We played all of our kids. I’m super proud of them. They worked hard on senior night,” Adolfson said.
 Weiser senior Bryce Bake came back from an injury and long recovery to play on senior night. He was the top scorer for Weiser with 13 points and could be a factor in the upcoming SRV District Tournament.
 Payette scored only a single point in the third quarter, while Weiser put 19 points on the scoreboard. The Wolverines were way out in front at the end of the third period 62-15.
 Weiser let up on the gas pedal in the fourth quarter as the bench was cleared to let everyone play. The Wolverines scored 10 points in the fourth quarter – their lowest-scoring quarter of the game. The final score was the highest point total for Weiser this season and also the largest margin of victory over any opponent.
 Bryce Bake scored 13 points to lead the Wolverines. Brett Spencer had 10 points, followed by Ande Jensen with eight points. Tim Reed and Nate Turner each contributed six points. Sy York and Nate Lattin each scored five points. Layten Tolman, Caleb Harris and Angel Magana each score four points. Rounding out the scoring, Eli Ruiz had three points and Justin Estes and Joaquin Herrera each scored two points.
 Even with the big win over Payette, coach Adolfson said the team has work to do to prepare for the district tournament. The Wolverines are the No. 2 seed and will host Homedale for the first round on Saturday, Feb. 22, at 7 p.m.
 The higher-seeded teams will host the first games in the tournament before the tournament moves to TVCC in Ontario, Ore. The championship game and the consolation championship game will be played at TVCC on Feb. 25 and Feb. 27.
 The Wolverines have played the Trojans twice this season and won both games. The first meeting on Jan. 14 at Homedale was a squeaker with Weiser getting the win by a single point 47-46. Weiser beat Homedale a second time 56-43 on Feb. 1 at Weiser.
 During what Adolfson said will be a long layoff before the first district game, the team will work on shooting the basketball and passing and breaking down some offensive plays to get better.
 “I like where we are right now, but we’ve still got to get better,” he said. “We’ll just continue to work on things in order for us to pay our best basketball over the next two weeks.”
 Weiser finished the regular season in second place in the SRV Conference with a record of 5-3 and an overall record of 12-9. Homedale sits at 4-4 in the conference (9-12 overall), and Fruitland is the No. 1 seed with an 8-0 conference record (20-1 overall).
 Adolfson said it could be a “dogfight” at the district tournament. Only two of the five teams in the SRV Conference will earn a trip to the 3A State Championships in March at Meridian.
 “Anybody can beat anybody,” he said. “There are no easy games in the SRV.”