Wolverine men take win on senior night

The Weiser Wolverines hosted the Payette Pirates for senior night on Feb. 2.
 Weiser honored six seniors, Sam Kerner, Ray Calley, Eli Ruiz, Tyler Pope, Isaiah Oarbeascoa, and manager Tim VanNess. All five seniors players started the game.
 Weiser came out strong. With 30 seconds off the clock, Calley drained a three-pointer on a pass from Kerner.
 Payette was able to answer with their own three-pointer and then got the ball back after a Wolverine offensive foul, where they took the lead with a lay-in. This was the only time Payette had the lead at 5-3.
 Weiser’s Brett Spencer gave Weiser the lead back with a drive in and bucket with 2:32 left in the first quarter.
 With 30 seconds to go, Evan Haggerty picked up a strong rebound and quickly passed it out to Spencer for two points just inside the arc. The quarter ended with Weiser in the lead, 9-6.
 The Wolverines played great defense in the second quarter, trapping and covering passing lanes causing the Pirates to struggle to get into synch to run their offense.
 Calley was first to score for Weiser again, receiving a pass in the key from Ruiz for two points.
 At the five minute mark Spencer got hot, hitting a three-pointer in the corner on an assist from Calley.
 The next trip on offense, at the top of the arc, with another pass from Calley, Spencer drained a second three-pointer. Weiser was up 19-7.
 Just under the halfway point, Haggerty on a fast break was fouled and sent to the ground on his layup. Making both free throws he increased Weiser’s lead to 14 points.
 Weiser’s Brayden Walker got in on the scoring run. Walker sunk a nice jump shot from an assist from Ruiz with just over a minute to go in the second quarter.
 The Pirates were able to score at the buzzer with a lay-in. The half ended Weiser 29, Payette 14.
 Haggerty played a solid game and started the second half scoring for the Wolverines with a reverse lay-in on a pass from Ruiz.
 About a minute later, Ruiz delivered another great pass for an assist. This time to Pope as he cut through the key and made a turn-around jump shot.
 Calley was also having a good game and hit another three-pointer at the top of the arc.
 With 4:08 left in the third, Payette took a timeout to settle down. Out of the timeout, Weiser capitalized on a Pirate missed shot. Haggerty with the defensive rebound, passed the ball up court to Kerner who was unable to get a shot off. He connected with Willy Shirts as he cut to the block for a lay-in giving Weiser a 26 point lead.
 Just under two minutes to play in the third, Shirts with a steal, drove to Weiser’s basket and then kicked it out to Calley for his third three-pointer of the night.
 A minute later, Levi Estes hit a three-pointer from the corner on an assist from Shirts.
 The third quarter ended with the score Weiser 47, Payette 23.
 Early in the fourth, Haggerty was fouled hard on a drive to the basket. He went to the line and made both foul shots for Weiser.
 Weiser had a fun night scoring. Michael Youngberg added two  with a baseline jumper.
 At the halfway point, Coach Brad Adolfson put all of the seniors in. With 2:30 left in the game, Oarbeascoa received a pass from Ruiz in the corner to sink his own three-pointer, the bench and crowd went wild.
 The game ended in a Weiser win 57, Payette 34.
 Weiser scoring: Spencer 17, Haggerty 11, Calley 11, Estes 5, Walker 4, Oarbeascoa 3, Shirts 2, Youngberg 2, Pope 2.