Weiser Wolverines take on Nampa Christian on Friday at home

Published by admin on Wed, 12/09/2020 - 1:46pm

Willy Shirts (00) goes in for a breakaway lay-up early in the contest between Weiser and Nampa Christian. The Wolverines were down by ten points at the end of the first quarter but a three pointer by Brayden Walker and a steal by Shirts for the breakaway lay-up added a spark of life for the Wolverines. Photo by Michelle Estes
By: 
Michelle Estes
  With Nampa High School being unable to play on Dec. 11 due to COVID-19 restrictions, the Friday night Nampa Christian contest was added. 
 There was no lack of energy on the court. Both Weiser and the Nampa Christian Trojans run a quick explosive game.  
 The Trojans won the tip but their offense turned it over.
 Weiser immediately switched ends of the court with Willy Shirts hitting Brett Spencer at the top of the key, draining a three for the first points of the game. 
 Trojan’s Russell Vander Woude answered with a three. A turnover by Spencer led to another quick two by Vander Woude. Spencer, not to be outdone, returned with two points on an assist by Sam Kerner. 
 Shirts snagged a difficult rebound and went back up strong for two points. 
 On Weiser’s next trip down the court, Levi Estes got physical and came down with the rebound, wrestled to go back up and was fouled. Estes went to the charity stripe where he hit one of two free throws giving Weiser the lead. 8-7.
 The first quarter proved to be a lively contest. It was marked by quick ball movement, physical play under the basket, rapid shots and strong defense. It was Weiser 10 Nampa Christian 20 after one.
 In the second quarter both teams took full advantage of the court, taking the ball baseline to baseline multiple times. 
 The Wolverines had a spark of life with a weakside three pointer by Brayden Walker and a steal and full court take by Shirts where he made his lay-up and was fouled sending him to the line. Making his free throw the game was now 16 to 22. 
 After a great stop by the Wolverines, Sam Kerner made a half court pass up to Spencer who got the Trojan’s Simon De Jong to bite on his fake for an  easy two under the hoop. 
 Nampa Christian took a much-needed timeout to try to settle down, but promptly turned the ball over on the inbounds pass. Weiser capitalized with an assist from Malakye Scott to Kerner for two. The scoreboard showed Weiser closing in with 20 to Nampa Christian’s 22. 
 The Trojan’s returned with fire, De Jong hit a deep three. Then a Weiser inbounds turnover gave Caden Yett of Nampa Christian a look where he made a two and then a three on subsequent trips down the court. 
 Going into the locker room at half it was Weiser 24, Nampa Christian 39.
 The second half, the Trojans were effective in using Weiser’s mistakes to put points on the board. 
 Turnovers turned out to be the biggest challenge for the Wolverines with such a fast-paced game and this wasn’t a surprise. Halfway through the third quarter Nampa Christian had increased their lead to 20 points. 
 Making adjustments Weiser went to man-to-man defense causing the Trojans to re-evaluate their offensive game. Nampa Christian struggled to get their offense to work with the scrappy Wolverine defense. 
 Even with the tweaking the Wolverines were never able to get the game under control. 
 The second half continued on with multiple turnovers and missed shots by Weiser and Nampa Christian scoring on the turnovers. Weiser lost the contest 32-72.
 Weiser was led by Spencer with 13, followed by Shirts 9, Walker 5, Kerner 4, Estes 1. 
 After the game coach Adolfson said, “the boys are learning a new system and with a young inexperienced team it takes time for it to all come together. I believe in our guys.” 
 Weiser travels to Melba on Thursday, Dec 10.

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18 E. Idaho St.
Weiser, ID 83672
PH: (208) 549-1717
FAX: (208) 549-1718
 

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