Slow start dooms Mustangs

Tooele only outscored Mountain Crest 39-35 from the second quarter on but it was the slow first quarter that doomed the Mustangs. It took over three minutes to get on the board for Mountain Crest and six turnovers allowed the Buffaloes to build a 17-4 first quarter lead and start the game on a 23-8 run three minutes into the second quarter and held off for a 56-39 win.

Tooele’s point guard Canyon Christensen came in as the second leading scorer at almost 17 points a game but Mason Baldwin’s defense held him to only two first half points and eight for the game as he was frustrated all night. However, the Buffaloes’ leading scorer, center Justin Rogers, exploded in the second quarter and put Tooele on his back.

Rogers averages 21 points and 10 rebounds per game on the season and finished with another double double. Rogers had only three first quarter points but poured in 13 in the second quarter and really hurt Mountain Crest on the offensive boards. He finished with 22 for the game. Brandon Vorwaller picked up some of the scoring slack for Tooele with eight first points and finished with 13 on the night.

Opposite of Rogers, senior Marshall Nethercott came in averaging almost 20 points per game for a Mustang team only averaging 40 points a game for the season, but he sat early in the first quarter with fouls and only finished with six points. Nick Lefevre was the leading scorer with 13 points, going 8 for 10 from the charity stripe. It was a good sign for coach Kevin Anderson’s squad as they look for secondary scorers next to Nethercott.

Mountain Crest was able to get to the free throw line and convert going 17 for 22 but also had 15 turnovers for the game. Despite a lot of seniors on the team, last year’s Mustang team only went about seven deep so Caleb Archibald, Baldwin and Nethercott are the really, only returning, experienced varsity players.

Next up for Mountain Crest is the three day tournament in Preston starting with the Bonneville Bees from Idaho. Meridian, Century, Green Canyon, Middleton, Star Valley and Preston are the other high schools in the tournament as the Mustangs will play three games in three days and looking for their first win as the loss to Tooele dropped them to 0-4 on the season.

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