Miners run out of gas, lose to Bulldogs
Photo by AriAna McDonaldHunter Gust goes up for two during the first half of the Miners season ending loss to the Genesee Bulldogs at Post Falls Middle School.
For the first 16 minutes the Wallace Miners looked like they were going to gut out a close win over the Genesee Bulldogs, but it was the final 16 minutes that effectively ended the Miners’ season as they fell to the Bulldogs 56-41 at Post Falls Middle School.
In a rematch from almost a year ago when the Miners lost to the Bulldogs 50-43, it seemed as though the Miners were set to exercise their demons in the first half of play.
The Miners came out and went toe to toe with the much more physical Genesee squad as they used a balanced scoring effort to keep the Bulldogs at bay while taking a 23-22 halftime lead.
The second half was a much different story as the Bulldogs came out and out-muscled and out-hustled the Miners as they turned a one-point deficit into a 10-point lead as they headed into the final quarter.
In the first half the Miners used timely baskets to shut down the Bulldogs from going on a run, something they couldn’t do in the second half.
The Miners couldn’t get their limited shots to drop and the Bulldogs contently drained the clock with multiple possessions that lasted longer than 60 seconds and the Miners didn’t decide to foul until it was too late.
Bulldog senior Trevor Stout had a game high 29 points, notching 16 of them in the second half, but Wallace coach Corey Miller didn’t credit him for getting Genesee the win.
“That number 12 (Garrett Borth) killed us,” Miller said. “He got past our guards and forced our bigs to have to help and that resulted in either a foul, and dump down to another player, or a wide open look for another player. Stout may have had more points but 12 was the guy who made it happen”
Wallace struggled to contain Borth and Stout who ran all over the court for the entire game, forcing a tired Miner defense to resort to cheap fouls to get a momentary reprieve.
The Miners had struggled with finding a second half wind all season, but this one will probably be the one that they remember the most. Wallace (12-9) was led in scoring by Mat Farkas who had 13 points while Hunter Gust finished with 10.
Miller will be back next season with the same team due to not having any seniors, but they will have a lot of valuable experience and have another crack at a state tournament berth.