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Summit boys basketball gets 1st league win, pushes past Battle Mountain

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Cody Jones
  

Summit High School’s Emilio Jain drivers against a Battle Mountain defender during the third quarter of the varsity boys basketball game Friday, Jan. 14, 2022, at Summit High School in Breckenridge. Summit staged a strong comeback and defeated Battle Mountain 60-48.
Jason Connolly/For the Summit Daily News

The Summit High School boys basketball team was looking to rebound from two tough losses earlier in the week as they took on rival Battle Mountain Friday, Jan. 15.

The night prior, the Tigers got beat handily by a talented Eagle Valley, losing 73-48 for their second league loss of the season.

The Tigers did not look good at the beginning of the first quarter, as Battle Mountain shut the offense down with a tough full-court press that left the Tigers scattered.

The Tigers turned the ball over and three, 3-pointers from Battle Mountain — with two coming from P.J. Kessenich — helped the Huskies to have a 14-7 lead at the end of the first quarter of play.

“We tried to focus on defense a little bit more,” Summit head coach Jordan Buller said of what he told his team at the end of the first quarter. “I felt like we were missing some easy ones that we usually make, so I wanted the guys to focus on making it hard on them to score.”

In the second quarter, the Tigers started to double down and get a hold of the game before it got too out of control. Sophomore Emilo Jain especially played great defense by picking up loose balls and coming away with steals. Soon, the Tigers started to score points by drawing fouls and making defensive plays that lead to offensive opportunities.

The Tigers defense held the Huskies to 6 points points the entire quarter while Jack Schierholz, Jac Crowe, Mac Scroggins and Jain helped score 11 points to only be down 20-18 at halftime.

Summit High School’s Jack Schierholz defends against a pass during the forth quarter of the varsity boys basketball game against Battle Mountain Friday, Jan. 14, 2022, at Summit High School in Breckenridge.
Jason Connolly/For the Summit Daily News

Both teams began to score with force In the third quarter as Battle Mountain tried to mount a lead again, but Summit matched them on their side of the floor. Jain continued to get defensive stops, leading to scores by Scroggins and Crowe.

“He really played well tonight,” Buller said. “I felt like I have kind of been on him. He’s a sophomore on varsity, and if you aren’t going to contribute, why are you up here? He stepped up his role tonight and I was really glad to see it.”

After three quarters the Huskies were still leading 37-35. In the fourth, Summit changed the tide as they found success disrupting Battle Mountain’s offense.

Scroggins, as well as Schierholz, helped the the team get one of their first leads of the game with four minutes remaining by scoring mid range jumpers, driving down the baseline and scoring inside with offensive rebounds.

The game remained close and Summit maintained their slim lead with a little over minute left and the Tigers working to run down the clock.

Justin Chabot was intentionally fouled by the Huskies in order to stop the clock. Chabot then made both free throws to silence the visiting Battle Mountain crowd and extend the lead to 55-46. From there the Tigers were able to continue to force turnovers and score in order to beat the Huskies 60-48 to get their first league win and go to 3-8 on the season.

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