Whitehall defeats rival Boulder

Not only was the Whitehall High School boys basketball team able to pick up their first conference win of the season in impressive fashion in road action last Saturday, they were able to do so over a rival with a convincing 50-31 victory over Boulder.

"I'm really happy for our guys, they played and executed very well. Any win always nice, but a conference win on the road makes it even better," said head coach Zach McLean.

The Trojans were led in scoring by senior Clay Wolfe with 15, and freshman Brendan Wagner was also in double figures with 12 points. Sophomore Hayden Hoagland had a good night for Whitehall with nine points, senior Cade Briggs also had nine, sophomore Mason Alexander added three and sophomore Dylan Smith finished with two points.

The Trojans were strong on defense, with the Panthers unable to finish with a player in double figures.

"We talk a lot about our defense and how that even if our offense isn't going, by defending we can always give ourselves a chance. We mixed it up with man and zone and I thought we did a good job of transitioning back from both," McLean said.

Whitehall (2-3, 1-1 5B District) will wrap up their Pre-Christmas schedule with a Thursday matchup at against undefeated Big Timber.

"We still have plenty of room for improvement and that's a good thing. We just have to keep chipping away," McLean said.

THREE FORKS

The Trojans opened conference play with a 47-24 home loss against Three Forks.

Wolfe led the team is scoring with 11 points. Wagner added five, Smith had four, and Kenzie Hugulet and Hoagland each added two points.

McLean was pleased with the defense execution from his team.

"That's probably a state caliber team and to hold them under 50 was a real positive," he said.

After falling behind 14-0 at the end of the first, Whitehall cut the lead to 22-16 in the second quarter. McLean said things kind of snowballed on the next few possessions for his team and the Wolves went on a big run.