We've Got The County Covered
We've Got The County Covered
The Turner Tornadoes boys basketball team hosted the Box Elder Bears this past Friday in a District 9C contest. On Saturday, the team traveled to Fort Benton to face the Longhorns in another important District 9C contest. Friday night, the Bears got the best of the Tornadoes, 88-79. On Saturday, the boys were able to turn it around and pick up a 52-42 win over Fort Benton.
The Tornadoes got off to a slow start on Friday against the Box Elder Bears, falling behind 20-8 in the first quarter of action. The Tornadoes got balanced scoring in the second quarter with senior Ryan Doyle knocking down a triple and scoring five, while junior Carson Maloney added four more to the total. Senior Trent Billmayer also contributed four points to the score. Heading into halftime, the Bears still maintained a 43-34 advantage.
The Tornadoes rallied in the third quarter, getting eight points from Maloney, ten points from Doyle, and six points from Billmayer, while the defense allowed just 13 in the frame. The Tornadoes' strong third quarter efforts allowed them to take a 59-56 lead into the fourth quarter. Doyle dropped nine points down the stretch as the Tornadoes scored 20 in the frame, but unfortunately, the defense allowed the Bears to score 32 and take an 88-79 win over the Tornadoes.
Leading the Tornadoes on the night was Doyle with 39 points, including 4 from downtown. Maloney added 23 points in the contest, while Billmayer finished with 11.
On Saturday, in Fort Benton, the boys were looking to turn things around. Billmayer made a nice curl into the paint and a fine pass to Maloney to give the Tornadoes a 7-6 lead with 3:21 left in the first quarter. Doyle knocked down a pair of freethrows to maintain a 13-11 lead in the final minute of the first quarter.
Turner got things started quickly in the second quarter with a nice pass from Doyle to Maloney in the corner for a nice three-point bucket to extend Turner's lead to 16-11. Billmayer secured a defensive rebound and quickly advanced the ball up court where he made a strong pass to junior Tate Beck for a short mid-range jumper, extending the lead to seven and forcing the Longhorns to call a timeout. The Tornadoes would get a couple more baskets from Doyle and the trifecta from Maloney to take a 34-22 halftime lead.
The Turner offense slowed things down a bit in the third quarter, scoring 10 points while allowing the Longhorns just seven.
Doyle connected in the paint for a bucket to put Turner up 40-24 with 4:02 left in the third. Turner got an easy basket from Doyle for a coast-to-coast layup to extend the lead to 18 points. Turner coasted down the stretch, scoring eight points in the final frame and securing a 52-42 win over the longhorns. The tornadoes were lead on the night by Doyle with 22 points and Maloney with 17.
The Tornadoes will next take the court on February 9th against the Hays Lodgepole Thunderbirds. The following night the Tornadoes will travel to Gildford to take on the North Star Knights in the regular season finale. The team will then head to the District 9C Tournament in Havre February 14-17.
