Lovell Seniors Lead The Way To Win At Wyoming Indian [VIDEO]

Highlights of the Saturday, January 26th Boys Basketball game, between #1 Lovell at #2 Wyoming Indian.

Scroll down to watch highlights of the game.

The Bulldog seniors did 99% of the scoring for their team, to win their 12th straight, and strengthen their hold on the 2A top spot.

What’s more fun? Busting through the banner? Or collecting the streamers after-wards? I suppose there is the best of both worlds in this case.

Number 1 Lovell at Number 2 Wyoming Indian…first quarter…Wyoming Indian wearing the white…and getting some early defense in…Joey Aragon knocks the ball loose…and then Wilson Clifford will recover the ball…take it to the left side hoop and score 2 of his 10 points…and his team is on the board first.

Lovell did not stay down long…Kade Nicholls is staying in the corner like a good Bulldog…and he’ll get a treat worth 3 points…the senior scored 10 himself and his team is up 4-to-2.

These 2 teams know each other well, because this is a rematch of last year’s 2A state championship game…Alvin Spoonhunter bounces an assist to Clifford who will take care of the rest, to tie this ball game up at 4 points a-piece.

Last year’s state champs used a well balanced plan and they were scoring both inside and outside…Spoonhunter led the Chiefs with 17 points…which includes that 3, as the home team would go up 7-to-4.

The boys in blue though were keeping the pack together in this race…Nicholls scores again on the running jumper and that would allow his team to go back up 10-to-9…but WIHS already had their next plan of attack in motion. Aragon is going to weave his way through the defense and get those 2 points right back…and the Chiefs go back up 11-10 at this point.

The lead would change hands a number of times in this back and forth game…here’s Lovell’s main scoring threat…Cody Savage…I’ll tell you his numbers later but he had quite a game. That 2 would put the visitors back up 12-to-11.

And then the pendulum would swing the other way…Spoonhunter…eyes it…spies it…and buys it for 3. The crowd always likes that. The home team is back on top…14-to-12.

At times the opposition would get loose from their chain and take off…case in point…Savage says go fetch and Dylan Hultgren does, in order to get 2 of his 13 points…and things are even again at 14-all.

Wyoming Indian had a slightly better trick on this highlight…Clifford with a pump fake and then gets the basket to add to the cause…as the Chiefs reclaimed the lead…16-15 after the first 8 minutes.

2^nd quarter…the Bulldogs would show how disciplined they are…they’d work inside to the big man and naturally that would be Savage…he did this a number of times…the boys in blue are up again…19-17.

The Chiefs needed to get someone else in on the scoring…let’s try Joseph Howell…he’d back his way up and ended up get a couple of points…actually the junior chipped in with 13, but his team is still down 23-19.

WIHS was playing catch-up for a little while…and that’s not something that they are used to doing, but they responded well. Nice backdoor cut by Noah Valdez. He’s just a freshman but he’s sneaky…home team down 26-23.

Lovell was getting their points from the charity stripe, which made it difficult sometimes for the other team to take the lead. Trevor Williamson is open behind 3 defenders and that was a pretty easy bucket…now the Chiefs are down 1…it’s 26-25.

Wyoming Indian was making their move on the scoreboard…Spoonhunter is going to count to 3…and then he’s going to move the ball…through the net…and now WIHS is back in command of this one…up 28-26.

The senior was heating up…he just had to get open…Howell was in the right spot to set up a pick…and Spoonhunter knew he had to make that one…the home team had the momentum going into the locker room…up 31-to-27.

3^rd quarter…the boys in blue got their act in gear, and started making some field goals. Savage gets by one defender and lays in another basket…that would put his down 31-to-29.

The Bulldogs kept hanging around which was good for awhile…this will go down as a long 2 for Hultgren…there was a pattern that Lovell was developing…I’ll tell you later…visitors still trail, 33-31.

Wyoming Indian though was not quite ready to give up the lead…especially when you got guys like Clifford who can make plays like this. That’s how you finish…home team leads, 35-32.

But the opposition would reach into their bag of tricks…Savage does have a height advantage and when he’s that close to the hoop…2 points is almost automatic…Bulldogs down 35-34.

Last year’s state runner ups had one more senior that needed to get some points…here’s Ryan Clark…he came in late with 13 of his own…and the visitors are now back in command, up 36-35.

Neither team really built a big lead in this game…it was mostly one small run countered by another one. WIHS did not have much an answer for Savage…especially when he was that close to the hoop…Lovell is up 40-to-35…but the Chiefs did make up for with a good shot selection…they practice the run and shoot and Spoonhunter proves my point…he got the 2 back and now his team trails, 40-to-37.

The boys in blue did do a good job of finding ways to get to the hoop…and their experience showed. Nicholls drives and gets a kiss off of the glass to open up some breathing room…it’s 43-to-37.

…and the home team could do that sometimes as well. Aragon gets a well placed screen and he has a path to the hoop. That was much needed as Wyoming Indian was still down 44-to-39.

Now sometimes…they just did not get back on defense fast enough and Lovell took advantage. Clark did not have much resistance between himself and the basket…that was pretty easy. The visitors were up 48-41 going into the final 8 minutes.

4^th quarter…the Chiefs responded…quickly. Not sure where Tristan Gardner has been, but he picked a good time to show up. He’ll announce his presence with a 3 to help cut into the deficit…it’s 48-44.

The pace of the game was picking up to their style…Williamson is leading the fast break…he had to take it in himself and he’ll do just that and now they have Bulldogs’ attention…because now it’s 48-to-46.

After a timeout…the boys in blue would regroup. Savage did way more than his share in this game, and he was all right with it…31 points for the senior and those 2 pushed the score up to 50-to-46.

I told you about a pattern in this game for the visitors…well here it is…the Lovell seniors scored all but 1 point in this game…that shows experience, but not so much for the bench…but every dog has his day. Hultgren’s jumper makes it a 52-46 affair.

…and then there was Savage…who pretty much did anything he wanted underneath the hoop. It’s probably not over between these 2 teams and they probably will see each other again in the post-season…the score is now 56-50.

Wyoming Indian did have one last run in them and they needed it. Spoonhunter goes right through the middle of the lane and no one was in his way…the Chiefs trail by 2…63-61.

However, WIHS could not finish. No points in the final minute and that hurt. The Bulldogs just had to make their free throws and then they could wag their tails to victory. Lovell would win this battle, but there’s still 1 month left in the season…and the war is not over…final score…68-to-61.