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MCHS girls, boys basketball splits vs. Tigers

Ben Bulkeley
Moffat County High School freshmen Wyatt Oberwitte, left, and Ryder Seely go up for a rebound against the Hayden High School junior varsity team. The MCHS C team fell to the Tigers JV team, 60-52, on Tuesday in Hayden.
Shawn McHugh

Box scores

From Moffat County High School girls freshman game against Hayden High School’s girls junior varsity

Team, First quarter, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, Final

Moffat County, 10, 17, 13, 10, 50

Hayden, 10, 10, 4, 11, 35

From Moffat County High School boys C team game against Hayden High School’s boys junior varsity

Team, First quarter, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, Final

Moffat County, 4, 9, 15, 24, 52

Hayden, 15, 8, 21, 16, 60

Braeden Sullivan, Moffat County High School sophomore, stretches to make a pass during the Moffat County High School boys C team game Tuesday against Hayden High School’s junior varsity squad. The Bulldogs had a strong comeback after a slow first quarter but lost the contest, 60-52.Shawn McHugh

Box scores

From Moffat County High School girls freshman game against Hayden High School’s girls junior varsity

Team, First quarter, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, Final

Moffat County, 10, 17, 13, 10, 50



Hayden, 10, 10, 4, 11, 35

From Moffat County High School boys C team game against Hayden High School’s boys junior varsity



Team, First quarter, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, Final

Moffat County, 4, 9, 15, 24, 52

Hayden, 15, 8, 21, 16, 60

Playing against Hayden High School’s junior varsity team, Moffat County High School’s girls freshman team could do little wrong.

After tying the game at 10 after the first quarter, the Bulldogs never trailed again and won the game, 50-35.

The scary thing for other teams, is freshman Kori Finneman thinks they can improve even more.

“Overall, I thought we played pretty well,” she said. “There are some things we need to work on, but as a team, we played well — I think we play better together than most teams.”

Finneman had a solid game, scoring 19 points and collecting 12 rebounds, but she wasn’t alone.

Bailey Hellander had 14 points and 16 rebounds, Sassy Murray had two points and seven rebounds, Lisa Camilletti had four points and six rebounds, and Kyleen Ellgen had eight points and three rebounds.

Finneman said the team played better Tuesday than it did in the Dec. 5 Vernal (Utah) Tournament.

“I think we’ve improved a little, but we’re still making the same mistakes we made in Vernal,” she said. “But, I think we’re getting better.”

After the girls game, the Moffat County boys C team played Hayden’s junior varsity.

Despite being behind for all of the game, the boys team found the best way to score eight points in 10 seconds.

Playing against Hayden’s junior varsity squad, the boys lost, 60-52, but the Tigers’ 16-point lead fell to just eight in 10 seconds.

After Moffat County scored on a lay-up in the fourth quarter, sophomore Colby Haddan intercepted the Hayden inbounds pass and scored.

Three times in a row.

On the fourth attempt, sophomore Braeden Sullivan grabbed the pass and put it up for another two.

Coach Justin Gallegos said the series of plays highlighted an improved effort from the Bulldogs in the second half of the game.

“In the first half, we came out a little flat,” he said. “We didn’t get into a good offensive flow. (At halftime) I told them they need to be a threat. They needed to get pressure on the perimeter and in the paint.”

The team did just that, constantly finding Sullivan and Haddan in the paint.

Haddan had 20 points and six rebounds, Garrett Buckley had three points and two rebounds, Zach Booco had two points and five rebounds, Braeden Sullivan had 13 points and three rebounds, Andy Browning had four points and five rebounds, and Tyler Hildebrandt had nine points and 10 rebounds.

But, it would prove to be too little.

Hayden started the game on an 11-0 run and closed out the first quarter, leading 15-4.

The big first quarter would prove to be the difference for the Tigers, who were outscored by Moffat County, 48-45, the rest of the game.

“We had good intensity toward the end of the game, played a lot better defense and got ourselves back into the game three times,” Gallegos said. “But, when it came down to it, we dug ourselves too big of a hole to start with.”

Gallegos said his team would learn from the Hayden game moving forward.

“We’ll take it as a learning tool and go on to the next game,” he said. “That’s part of it — these younger classmen learn how to handle pressure and what it’s like on the big stage. The kids played hard, and that’s all I can ask of them. They give their best, we’ll deal with the rest.”


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