Trojans grab two more victories

The Whitehall High School boys basketball team improved to 3-0 on the season with two lopsided wins at last week's Tip Off Tournament in Manhattan.

The Trojans opened up the two-day tournament last Friday with a 65-30 victory over Ennis and picked up a 66-50 victory Saturday over Conrad.

Whitehall Head Coach Zach McLean said the team had spurts where they played really well on defense, noting they were really solid in the third quarters of both games.

"We tried some different things defensively so we could get them on film," he said.

Offensively, McLean said his team did a nice job of sharing the ball, but against the zone they need to do a better job picking their spots and finding the gaps. When the Trojans are facing a man-to-man, McLean said the floor spacing and movement has to improve.

"It is important for us to keep active on the backside to help with the ball side drive," he said.

Junior Max Feight had a huge night against Ennis with a game-high 32 points. Ryan Murphy and Sawyer Keener each had eight, Cade Briggs had seven, Wyatt Alexander chipped in five, Braden Smith added three and Stephen Japhet had two points.

Alexander had a monster game against Conrad, leading the team with 29 points. Murphy had a great game for Whitehall with 15, and Feight was also in double figures with 10. Briggs added six, Smith had four, and Kenner finished with two points.

The Trojans will open conference play later this week when they host Three Forks December 15 and Jefferson High School the following day.

"These next two games we will play polar opposites. Three Forks will want to play an up-tempo style of game, and Boulder will want to slow the pace down. It will be important for us to control the paint and rebound against Three Forks. Against Boulder we will have change how we will attack. They will try to pack the paint and take away driving lanes," McLean said.