Spartans get dismantled by Tigers at home
The Woodbine Tigers started Tuesday’s game with an 8-0 run, en route to a 68-28 victory, handing the Exira-EHK Spartans their first loss of the season.
“They were super aggressive compared to what we were,” said Spartan Head Coach Tony Santisteban of Woodbine. “They’re just bigger athletes than what we are. They have good basketball players as well, so it’s tough. With a new group and a young group that I have as far as inexperience, we knew it was going to be tough.”
The first basket of the night came from Sophomore Tiger Landon Blum, followed by back-to-back 3-point shots from Junior Brody Pryor and Senior Carson Kelley putting the Tigers in front 8-0. The Spartans got their first bucket when Junior Austin Rasmussen made a shot from 3-point range, but the Tiger offense continued to dominate leading 15-8 at the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter began with a 7-0 Tiger run leading 22-8 before Junior Spartan Owen Juhl put a stop to their run making one of two free throws, but the Spartans still trailed by 13. Blum responded coming up with a slam dunk, which was followed by a layup from Senior Xander Johnson, and then another dunk by Blum, which would be capped off by a 3-pointer from Blum putting the Tigers up 33-9.
Juhl managed to put a stop to the Tiger run, but the Tigers closed out the half leading 39-12 heading into the locker room.
“It’s a long season, a lot of new guys where we just have to find our groove and get more comfortable playing with each other,” Santisteban said.
Blum opened up the third quarter with the first basket, followed by another dunk before Spartan Freshman Blake Nelson went for a layup. Right after, Kelley made a 3-point shot, which started an 8-0 run which would close out the quarter with the Tigers leading 54-14.
Blum had another slam dunk opening the fourth quarter, but Spartan Senior Cannon Hansen was able to get going offensively, making multiple 3-point shots slowly chipping away at the Tiger lead.
“I really like Cannon’s IQ,” Santisteban said. “He didn’t go out the last couple of years. It just hurts him playing-wise, but once he gets his feet underneath him a little more, once he catches his breath, and once we get some guys back and give the starters a little bit more of a break. I like what Cannon does.”
The Spartans return to play Friday on the road against the Boyer Valley Bulldogs, who finished 6-17 last season making it to the Class 1A-1 First Round Tournament Game losing 74-43 to South O’Brien. They were led by Michael Davis averaging 9.3 points per game and Levi Reineke averging 7.7 rebounds and three assists per game.
“We’ll be watching film the next two days and cleaning up a couple of things,” Santisteban said. “Offensive rebounding was bad tonight, but some of that is boxing out and being in the right position. Understanding where that ball is coming off the rim and understanding where guys are going to be coming in.”