Wolverines drop season opener to 2A state champions

The Weiser Wolverine boys hosted the Melba Mustangs on Tuesday, Nov. 29 for their season opener. The Wolverines struggled to stop the Mustangs. The game ended in a Weiser loss 38 to 68. 

 Melba quickly put points on the board on their first fastbreak of the night. After a few turnovers on both sides, Melba sunk a 3 pointer, going up by 5 points. 

 Weiser’s Jack Shirts gave the Wolverines their first bucket on a press break lay-in. Two minutes in the game it was Weiser 2, Melba 12.

 Weiser went dry after that and were unable to add anything to the score board until near the end of the first quarter when Tommy Johnson connected with Kolin Cook as Johnson made an inside out pass. Cook missed his shot but made a strong follow rebound and put the ball in with a reverse lay-in. 

 The first quarter ended with Weiser behind 4 to 25. 

 Less than a minute into the second quarter, Cook on a put back shot was fouled and went to the line where he sunk two free throws to increase Weiser’s score to 6. 

 Weiser’s defense battled hard and was able to hold Melba at 25 for the first half of the second quarter. 

 Cook added 2 more from a pass inside that was delivered from Malakye Scott. 

 The game then turned into a short game of rat ball where both sides were trying to make moves that resulted in turnovers and poor shot selections. The Mustangs ended up ending the wild game when they finally secured the ball and scored increasing their lead, Weiser 6, Melba 29.

 Scott hustling and working hard was able to contribute with a couple of buckets on drive in buckets. 

 With a minute to go in the half, Shirts drove in past Melba’s defense giving Weiser another bucket. 

 Thirty seconds later Shirts made a nice pass to Josh Mizar on a fast break, where Mizar made a solid fadeaway bucket. 

 The half ended with Weiser down by 23, Weiser 16, Melba 39. 

 Shirts and Mizar connected again to start off the second half with Shirts driving inside and then kicking it out to Mizar where he sunk a 3 from the corner. Shirts added his own bucket as he received a pass on a cut through the key and was able to score from the block, Weiser 21-39.

 Melba soon adjusted and went on a scoring run of 9 unanswered points.  The rest of the third quarter was back and forth scoring. The third period ended Weiser 29, Melba 58. 

 Melba started the fourth with the ball, scoring on an easy lay-in. Weiser was now down by 31 points, which resulted in a running clock for the fourth quarter. 

 Mizar was able to add a 3 pointer and two free throws to help Weiser reduce Melba’s lead. Johnson, working hard inside, grabbed a tough rebound, putting it back up for 2.

 Melba scored at the end of the game to bring the final score to Weiser 38, Melba 68. 

 Scoring for Weiser: 

 Josh Mizar 10, Kolin Cook 9, Malakye Scott 8, Tommy Johnson 4, Jack Shirts 4, and Carter Jensen 3. 

Scores at the end of quarters:

Weiser 4 16 29 38

Melba 25 39 51 68