craigdailypress.com

Craig — Moffat County’s boys basketball team has shown great improvement this season and played well beyond its youth throughout.

But in a regional final game Saturday at Brush, the Bulldogs got a taste of their own medicine and were outplayed for one stretch in the game, falling to Brush, 68-58.

Moffat County has preferred to play full-court defense and speed the game up whenever possible this season. That also was the style preferred by Brush on Saturday, leading to a fast-paced, turnover-filled game.

Both teams played a bit out of control at times, but Brush beat the Bulldogs 19-8 in the second quarter, taking a nine-point lead into halftime. From there, Moffat County never could close the gap.

“We had a horrible four- to five-minute span there where I don’t think we made a basket, and they were on fire,” head coach Eric Hamilton said. “Otherwise, the scoring is almost identical in every quarter. It was just a stretch where they really took it to us.”

Moffat County trimmed the Beetdiggers’ lead to five points in the third quarter and six points in the fourth, but it quickly was pushed back to double figures each time, Hamilton said.

Hamilton was pleased with the effort from his team but said it missed out on plenty of opportunities.

“We did a nice job of creating turnovers, but we just did not convert,” he said. “We caused plenty of problems with our pressure, but we turned steals into unforced turnovers by us.”

The Bulldogs had goals of making it further than the Sweet 16, but Hamilton recognized there is plenty to be proud of after a six-win season in 2011-12. This year, the Bulldogs finished 19-5 with a Sweet 16 berth and will return most of their players next season.

“I think the guys have a lot to be proud of with the year we had,” Hamilton said. “For the most part, they’re very disappointed right now because we had our sights set on the Great 8 and making a run at the state championship. They’re not going to accept losing very well. But at least they got a taste of it. It was a great season.”

Nate Waggenspack can be reached at 875-1795 or nwaggenspack@craigdailypress.com.