Trojans learn from 2016 5B District tournament

They remember. Oh how they remember.

The reference is to the 2016 District 5B tournament in Belgrade when the Whitehall High School boys basketball team went 0-2, thus failing to advance to the Divisional.

The Trojans entered as the No. 2 seed, which earned them a bye in the first round. But they didn't play like the team that earned that bye and saw their season end.

Whitehall coach Zach McLean and three of the team's top players – Braden Larsen, Andrew Simon and Max Feight – now echo similar thoughts without knowing what either of the others said. They don't want this year's postseason to end this weekend.

"It was a disappointment," McLean said. "We want them to forget about the (2016 District) games, but not the feelings."

"Disappointment, I was pretty disappointed that we lost," Larsen said.

"Disappointment," Feight said. "That's definitely not how we thought it would go."

"Disappointment," Simon added. "We just didn't have the energy, didn't come out ready enough to step up at tournament time. But we had our chances in both games."

Simon and Larsen were both juniors and Feight joined fellow freshman Cade Briggs as starters at last year's District. Only one senior (Garrett Briggs) was on the roster at season's end.

"They sensed that and felt they had to do a lot (more)," McLean said, referring to the youth and thinking of Larsen and Simon. "They're playing a lot better this year."

The Trojans, however, were rolling down the stretch of the regular season when they lost road games to both Manhattan and Three Forks. In the final week before the 2017 postseason, the Trojans lost at Class A Dillon and then wrapped up the No. 1 seed by beating Townsend at home (54-46) to improve to 8-2 in league play and 14-4 overall.

"We had a couple of setbacks," McLean said. "Those two losses (to Manhattan and Three Forks) ... I felt we got outworked."

Larsen said, "They were good learning experiences. They were both tournament atmosphere and we should learn from that.

"We thought we had a good chance of getting (to the Divisional), especially with three teams going. Last year was a good experience for our younger players. We're more experienced this year and we'll prepare for each team and play the best we can."

Simon believes the Trojans of 2016-17 can be one of the two teams advancing out of the six-team Southern District 5B tourney.

"I'm feeling good," he said. "We just have to come ready to play and match each opponent's intensity."

Feight said, "We definitely had hopes of getting to state if we'd gotten out of Districts. I try not to think about that, but we bring it up once in a while and use it as motivation. I just felt we didn't play our best basketball."

"We just don't want to let that happen again."

Feight, Larsen, Simon and junior Wyatt Alexander all average in double figures, giving the Trojans a solid group scorers both inside and outside. Rounding out the varsity roster are seniors Colton Noyes and Jake Flynn; juniors Justin Gipson, Braden Smith and Ryan Murphy, and sophomores Jimmy Cheng, Clint Parks and Cade Briggs.

The District is double elimination, but the Trojans are hoping to make it to the Divisional without losing, especially the first game.

"If you slip once, you put yourselves in a hole," McLean said. "We haven't shot well, but you've got to fight through it, find ways to win."

That's what the Trojans will be trying to do, starting Friday in Belgrade.

"There are three parts to the season – the beginning of the year, after Christmas and tournaments," McLean said. ""Now we want to be playing our best."

The losses to Manhattan and Three Forks are examples of what can happen, Simon said.

"If we don't come out and play with intensity, we could get beat by any team."