Trojans win two at state tournament

Billings -- Not playing your best at the state tournament, at least in the opening round, proved to be a downer for the Whitehall High School boys basketball team.

But after falling 69-55 to eventual runner-up Anaconda on Thursday in the second game of the 2017 Class B tourney at Rimrock Auto Arena, the Trojans bounced back with two victories -- 71-56 over Lodge Grass on Friday and 64-62 over Missoula Loyola on Saturday morning -- before losing 52-42 to Shelby in the third-place game Saturday afternoon.

The loss to Anaconda was disheartening. The Copperheads scored the first six points and the Trojans never caught up. It was 29-15 at halftime and 38-25 when Whitehall made a run, closing within 41-35.

The brief rally included two layups sandwiched around a steal, all within about three seconds, by Andrew Simon. But Anaconda didn't allow the rally to extend into the fourth quarter and was able to pull away down the stretch.

"When you're trying to make a comeback, the defensive end is more important than the offensive end," Whitehall coach Zach McLean said. "We don't play very well from behind, that's for sure."

Only four players scored for Whitehall. Braden Larsen led the way with 19 points, Simon added 14, Wyatt Alexander 13 and Max Feight 9. Simon had 11 rebounds, but Anaconda had a 40-27 advantage on the boards, including 10 of their own missed shots.

McLean didn't like what he saw early.

"Just their energy level from the start," he said. "They had it and we didn't. And that's not the way we like to play. They're disappointed, but that's team sports."

He also had a message for his seniors as they looked ahead to the consolation bracket.

"I told them," he said, "you don't want to go out like that."

They didn't, winning their next two games.

The Trojans soared past Lodge Grass after falling behind early. An amazing second quarter in which Whitehall outscored Lodge Grass 19-1 pretty much put it away. Lodge Grass went 11 minutes without a field goal.

Feight had 23 points, Alexander 13, and Larsen and Simon 11 each. Simon had 13 rebounds and Larsen had 7 assists.

The victory over Loyola produced a memorable finish for Feight, who took a pass from Alexander and lofted a shot from near the free throw line that went in at the buzzer to snap a tie at 62.

"I knew I had about five or six seconds to get near the basket," said Feight, who inbounded the ball to Alexander and raced up the court to take a return pass. He lofted the shot from near the free throw line and it went in to spark a resounding cheer from Whitehall fans.

"It was kind of a relief because we blew a lead and then we were happy to be moving on," Feight said.

The Trojans withstood eight 3-pointers by Ryan McHugh to advance to the third-place game.

Larsen scored 20 points and Feight added 19 against Loyola, which fell to the Trojans for the second time this season.

Whitehall led 46-38 through three quarters before the Rams rallied to tie, only to have Feight score to prevent overtime.

The Shelby and Whitehall battle featured seven ties and seven lead changes. Shelby was up 28-23 at halftime and 39-34 heading into the fourth quarter. But Shelby shot 61 percent from the floor, which overwhelmed the 38 percent by the Trojans.

Larsen and Simon had 10 points each, Feight 9, Alexander 6, Colton Noyes 4 and Ryan Murphy 3 as Whitehall closed out a 20-8 season.

"We ran into a buzz-saw in Shelby," Feight said. "They have some good shooters."

The Trojans lose Larsen, Simon, Noyes and Jake Flynn to graduation.

"It was fun playing with them," Feight said. "They were great leaders and it was fun being with them at all our practices and games.

"I'm pretty excited for next year. All of our returning players have some varsity experience, so it's not like we're starting from scratch".