Pirates sail to win

Surviving a sloppy second half, the Wheatland High boys basketball team held off Highlands, 64-50, Thursday in the opening round of the 47th annual Wheatland Invitational Basketball Tournament.

The Pirates (1-1) face Lindhurst, a 54-52 winner over Hamilton, in tonight’s 7 o’clock semifinal.

“If you look at the first three games, it was a typical early season game,” Wheatland coach Jim Vossler said. “Kids are still getting in shape and teams are trying to work on their game. It was ugly out there.”

The Pirates turned the ball over six times in the first quarter but still managed to protect a 16-12 lead. One reason for that was the play of David Wilson, who scored 12 of his game-high 27 points in the first period.

In the second period, Wheatland seemed to put everything together.

“That second quarter was as good a job by us that I’ve ever seen,” Vossler said.

The Pirates reeled off 24 points, while holding the Scots to 10, to take a 40-22 lead. Wheatland’s Jonathan Crawley scored 10 points in the period.

After a solid second quarter, Wheatland resorted to its sloppy tendencies in the second half. The Pirates turned the ball over 10 times in the third quarter and another 11 times in the fourth period.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen as bad a second half as that by a team I’ve coached,” Vossler said.

The Scots came up with 17 steals in the second half.

Heading into the fourth quarter, the Pirates led, 50-32.

After a basket by Wheatland’s Michael Canalin, the Scots scored eight straight points to pull to within 12, 52-40. That was as close as Highland would get.

Manuel Torres tried to keep the Scots close in the fourth period, as he scored nine of his team-high 19 points.

The Pirate faithful received a scarewhen Wilson fell to the floor, clutching his left shoulder with less than a minute remaining.

“I just got popped there,” said Wilson, who added 15 rebounds.

Canalin scored 15 points and Benji Gray had 12.

Tim Shvets had 11 points for Highlands.

The Pirates finished the game with 19 offensive rebounds and a whopping 28 on defense. Highlands finished with 21 offensive boards and 19 defensive, after pulling down just 17 in the first half.

Lindhurst 54, Hamilton 52

The Blazers used a big third quarter to climb back into the game, after trailing 31-27 at the half.

Lindhurst (1-0) outscored the Braves, 18-4, coming out of the break to grab a 45-35 lead.

Carlos Kilpatrick and Arnie Vargas both scored eight points during the rally.

“It’s hard for people to match up with Arnie,” Lindhurst coach Bob Jensen said of Vargas, who scored down low and also hits two three-pointers in the third quarter.

Vargas finished the game with 30 points. Kilpatrick added 14.

Lindhurst needed the big third period because Hamilton staged a comeback in the fourth quarter. The Braves got to within one, 51-50, with 2:18 to go, and then took the lead, 52-51 with 1:10 left when Craig Lohse hit a jumper from the free-throw line.

Vargas gave the Blazers the final lead with 30 seconds remaining when he drained a 3-pointer along the baseline off a pass from Johnny Yang.

Spencer Keables scored 20 points for the Braves. Lohse finished with 11 and Omar Gonzalez hit 10.

Paradise 49, Capital Christian 26

The Bobcats jumped out to leads of 11-2 after one period and 16-6 at halftime to cruise to victory.

Paradise faces Woodcreek at 8:30 tonight in a semifinal game.

Jacob Prinz scored 12 points for Paradise and Matt McGregor added 10. Gabe Strong led the Cougars with 12.

Woodcreek 72, Lincoln 49

Charles Standifer scored 20 points and Nick Alongi added 17 to lead the Timberwolves to a win over the Fighting Zebras.

Keenan Hale scored 13 points for Lincoln and Tony Williams added 12.