Highlights of the Saturday, December 17th boys basketball game between #1 Lander and #3 Torrington.

Watch the highlights of the game!

 


Buddy…that better be the play-book you’re reading…a really big playbook!

Number 1 Lander vs. Number 3 Torrington…this game being played in Douglas…first quarter…Torrington wearing the marroon…and by now you should know who they have…Jason McManamen…collects his own miss and scores the first of many…Trailblazers strike first up 2-nothing.

The future University of Wyoming product hitting them early and often…here comes a shot from long range…19 points for the senior in this game…the score is now 5-zip.

Last year’s 3rd place team has more than him though…how about  Blake Wisroth…this 15 foot swisher has his team out to an impressive 7-nothing lead, just 2 minutes into the game.

Lander would eventually break out of their early slump…Austin Roberts will get a friendly bounce off of the rim from about 12 feet away and the Tigers are finally on the board, trailing 7-to-2.

They were just being a bit picky with their shots early on…Casey Winger was open for 3…passed it up and decided to settle for 2 instead…that would be his only contribution of the contest…Tigers still down 7-to-4.

But Lander has a really big guy on their team…his name is Lucas Watkins…a 6 foot 7 inch junior so he has more growing to do. Offensive boards and putbacks are his specialities….13 points for him…his team is still trailing 8-to-6.

What Torrington did not have in size, they made up for in speed…Cameron Kelly drives right through the defense to get his first 2 points of the game…TrailBlazers are still up 10-to-6.

The Tigers kept hanging around…here’s Tanner Simpson…he also scored 19 and that was the first 2 on that base-line drive…his team is down 10-to-8.

But Torrington was cashing in off of a few miscues here and there…like this one…Kelly is wide-open on the other end of the floor…he knows what to do and does it…he poured in 14 of his own and the score is now 14-to-8.

They’re not called the TrailBlazers for nothing you know? McManamen is going to prove my point on this next play…that’s why UW wants him…the score is doubled up…16-to-8 after the first 8 minutes.

2nd quarter…Lander would re-group…Simpson…sends one flying for 3…and finds cloud 9…that got his team into double-digits on the scoreboard and they’re down 16-to-11.

Torrington answered right back…here comes Kelly for 3 of his own and he buries it…he made that look easy…that would push the score up to 19-to-11.

Back and forth the scoring went for awhile…and at this point in the game…that was to be expected…double zero is Zach Sanders and he’ll put the 3-ball into the corner pocket…he contributed with 10 points…Tigers trail 21-16.

Sometimes the path was wide open for the TrailBlazers and who were they to pass up a free gift…the defense got there too late to stop Nick Brower…he’ll get the hoop and the hack…his team is up 9…their biggest lead of the game.

The opposition would very slowly pick away at that deficit…bad boys go to the corner…and Simpson’s one of them…Santa’s watching…Lander still down 25-19.

The Tigers were a threat from afar…and so was Simpson…here’s comes 3 more…nothing but net…he was heating up and his team is now down 27-22.

They’d get closer…Simpson again…he’s got the hot hand and he’s burning the nets! The senior has single-handedly brought his team back to within 2 points….Lander’s down 27-25.

Torrington was not about ready to let them get any closer…Alex McAnelly will get the finish on this fast-break turnover as the TrailBlazers would take a 31-25 lead, going into the locker room.

3rd quarter…The boys from Goshen County would push that lead back up…McManamen pops and hits from about 18 feet out, to add to his totals…his team has a 10 point cushion…up 35-25.

But then Lander would get to work…BIG TIME! Watkins puts back the miss and it’s pretty easy for him when he’s that close to the hoop…the deficit is down to 8.

We need to get someone else in here…how about Derek Peil…he’s pretty tall himself at 6 foot 4…he’ll add to the cause and the Tigers still trail 35-29.

It was the big boys making the big plays for awhile…Watkins goes elementary on the trailBlazers defense and gets one more for his efforts…the 3 point play makes the score 36-32.

Torrington was sensing a momentum shift and they had to do something about it…McManamen will take matters into his own hands and get the lay up…that pushed the lead back up to 6..it’s 38-32 at this point.

But they were starting to have some trouble against the tall ones…Mark McKee is giving about 1 foot against Watson…and he’ll get swatted on this try. That plan is going back to the drawing board.

Bigger is sometimes better if you know how to use it…having a good reach helps as well…Watson with the nice tip in…and we have a brand new ball game…38-all, going into the final 8 minutes.

4th quarter…the Tigers were looking to take their first lead of the game…Watson finds Peil behind the double-team…and Lander is finally on top…up 40-to-38 on that basket.

But that lead did not have much chance to grow…Wisroth puts up a difficult shot and gets it to drop as he’ll take a spill on the try…the score is knotted up again at 40-40.

Now Torrington doesn’t have much in height category, but McManamen does pretty good at 6 foot 5…enough to block Simpson on that fast-break try…but someone was able to grab the miss a score a few seconds later…Lander goes up 42-40.

When the big men weren’t scoring up close for the Tigers, the little guys were striking from a distance…this bucket by Roberts would cap off a 21-to-5 run for his team…and the scoreboard now reads 46-to-40.

Torrington would recover…Wisroth is gong to put up a leaner which will bounce around a few times and drop…that has his team down by 2…46-44.

Lander was not about ready to give up the lead though…not when it took them this long to get it…Sanders launches a 3-ball…and that double zero on his jersey should read oh-oh instead…Tigers back up 49-44.

It was up to Mcmanamen to bring his team back and he would…this time he’ll get one up over the big man…hoop and the foul…the 3 point play made it a 49-47 ball game, with starting to wind down.

His team needed a stop and he’d do it himself…sort of…it looks like a block but then a late whistle came in…the call ended up being basket interference because the ball was in the vertical cylinder when McManamen made contact with it…Lander got a few free throws as a result.

Not much time is left on the clock and the TrailBlazers now need a couple of scores…Kelly is going to fire one from the corner and hit the bulls-eye…his team would get one last chance at the end, but could not convert…as Lander would hang on to keep their perfect record in tact…winning 51-to-50.

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