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Trojans battle to the end in heartbreaking loss

The Whitehall High School boys basketball team showed the heart of a champion in a Wednesday night loss at the Southern B Divisional Tournament. The Trojans shined throughout the night on defense, but ultimately fell 36-34 in a play-in game heartbreaker against Columbus.

"Those kids played their hearts out for themselves, for each other, and that is what it's all about. They battled, they battled, they battled. They did a great job," Head Coach Zach McLean said following the game.

The Trojans were paced early by the outside shooting of Brendan Wagner whose second three-point shot put Whitehall up 8-7 with two minutes left in the quarter. The Cougars would respond outscoring Whitehall 7-2 to close out the first and led 14-10 going into the second.

Points were at a premium early in the second for the Trojans, but Wagner once again hit a key three pointer with a minute remaining in the half to cut the deficit to 20-14. After forcing a Columbus turnover Dylan Smith would drain a 35-foot shot at the buzzer to make it a 20-17 game going into the break.

After scoring the last six points of the first half, Whitehall would come out strong in the third scoring the first four points to take a 21-20 lead. Columbus would briefly take the lead before a Wagner three put the Trojans up 24-22. Whitehall would go up as many of four in the quarter, but the Cougars battled back, and the two teams went into the fourth tied at 28.

A low scoring fourth quarter would come down to the last minute. Tied at 34, Columbus would get to the line with 5.2 seconds left to go up 36-34. A shot by Wagner at the buzzer fell short giving the Cougars the hard-earned two-point win.

Wagner led the team with 16, Hayden Hoagland had nine, Dylan Smith added eight, and Flint Smith finished with one point.

Looking to the future, McLean said as a group we have everybody back and they now have the experience of playing in Billings.

"The sky is the limit for them. It's up to them how much they want to work in the summer and develop their games," he said.

 

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