SWC boys lose three straight

SWC (2-8 overall) went on a 13-5 fourth-quarter run and had a chance to even the score with seven seconds left in regulation, however, a paint shot by freshman post Garrett Olson rimmed out.

“It was a good game for us,” SWC head coach Jim Hull said. “I told them that the one thing I appreciated is that they never gave up. It could have been really easy because they were tired from the night before. They could’ve laid an egg, but they held their heads up and came in with an attitude that they could do it. That’s the beginning of some good things to come in the future.”

In all, the Redsides made 16 field goals, one 3-pointer, and tacked on 6 of 11 free throw tries.

Olson had 23 points, nine in the second half, Tuff Wilson notched six points, Tanner Davis chipped in four, and the tandem of Ben Birman and Kal Bailey kicked in three points each.

For Griswold (1-11), Gavin Newtson rattled off a team-high 21 points, Eli Sprenger secured eight, and both Logan Davis and D’Artagnan Carlson rapped out six points apiece as the team totaled 17 field goals, two 3-pointers, and shot 5 of 14 from the line.

Before the Griswold contest, the Redsides hit the hardwood opposite No. 14 Nixyaawii and ended up on the losing end of a 94-46 spread in first-day action at the Bouncin’ Cancer Tournament from Helix High School.

The Golden Eagles (9-2) jumped ahead with first-half spurts of 24-9 and 32-7 to go out in front, 56-16 at the break.

Trailing 83-32 at the start of the fourth quarter, Olson went to work in the paint for nine points, Steven Wells drilled a 3-pointer, and Bailey added a field basket to lead a 14-11 run.

For the game, SWC notched 19 field goals, one 3-pointer, and shot 7 of 15 from the line as Olson paced the offensive charge with a season-high 37 points, 25 in the second half.

Wells added three points, and Davis, Bailey and Birman went for two points each.

Nixyaawii guard Mick Schimmel scored 25 points, Noah Enright had 16, Tyasin Burns ended up with 15 and Quanah Picard dropped 11 points.

“Each night, we want to come out and our goal is we want to improve some part of our game,” Hull said. “For the most part, we are much better team than we were at the start of the season. We’ve got a lot of improvement to go, but we are taking baby steps right now with such a young team.”

Saturday in Echo, the Redsides could not find the answers against the Cougar pressure defense, and fell behind 43-20 at the half in a 57-36 loss in a non-league boys’ basketball tilt.

Olson led with 10 points, Bailey tallied nine, Wilson had eight and Birman was good enough for seven points, as the Redsides reeled off 14 field goals, one 3-pointer, and shot 4 of 7 from the line.

Echo (5-7) locked in for 24 field goals, six 3-pointers, and went 3 of 6 from the free throw line, with Devan Craig leading the way with 21 points, and senior post Morgen Marcum added 12 points.

“Echo really pressed us, and being that it was our third game in three days and us being a young team, their pressure got to us,” Hull said. “We had a fair number of turnovers, especially in that first half, and then we really weren’t hitting our shots. You put those two factors together, and it put us in a hole early.”

SWC hosts No. 1-ranked Sherman (8-1) at 7:30 p.m. on Friday for league action.

At 5:30 p.m. Saturday, the Redsides plays No. 16 Condon-Wheeler (6-4).