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Wolves remain tied for first with wins over Childress, Falcons 

Dalhart clinches playoff spot

The Dalhart Golden Wolves did everything from breaking a backboard loose from a wall last week to making a 10-point comeback against Childress to avenging a close loss to Bushland. The two wins left the Wolves tied for first place in District 1-3A, and gave them a significant edge in grabbing the first seed in Division I.

Dalhart traveled all the way to Childress for the game on Tuesday February 3. While warming up during halftime of the girls varsity game, Keldon Allen attempted a dunk and actually broke loose the rivets holding the backboard to the wall, leaving it swinging from a pole that also attached it to the ceiling. The girls game was moved to the very small back gym, but Childress was able to reattach the rivets before the start of the boys game, allowing it to be played in their larger gym. 

The game went back-and-forth in the first half. Zach Drew scored four points for the Wolves in the first quarter. Talon Garcia added three points, and Allen scored two points. Childress led 10-9 as the first period ended. Allen knocked down a three and scored five points in the second quarter, while Cash Schniederjan and Garcia each added two points. Dalhart outscored the Bobcats by one point in the second, and at halftime the score was tied 18-18. 

The Bobcats took a four-point lead by the end of the third quarter. Allen remained hot, nailing two more threes and scoring eight points for the Wolves. Schniederjan and Garcia each added two points. Childress held a 34-30 lead at the end of the third. 

Childress was eventually able to expand their lead to 10 points in the fourth quarter, and then the Wolves made an incredible comeback. Allen and Garcia each scored two points, but it was Hunter Trusler who led the way. Trusler hit a layup/ floater to complete the comeback and tie the game at 40-40, and was fouled on the play. Trusler hit the free throw to give the Wolves a 41-40 lead, and since they never allowed Childress to score again, that basically won the game. Trusler hit three more free throws for a total of nine points in the period and Drew also had a free throw as Childress began fouling to stop the clock, and Dalhart ultimately won the game 44-40. 

Allen led the team with 17 points in the game, and both Trusler and Garcia added nine points. Drew had seven rebounds and Trusler and Allen each had four rebounds. Maddix Blanco had four assists, and Garcia had two assists. Trusler had four steals and Garcia had two steals. Trusler and Blanco each had two blocks in the game. 

On Friday against Bushland, the first quarter ended up being a draw. Blanco hit two threes for six points to lead Dalhart in the first. Garcia added four points, and Schniederjan scored two points. Dalhart and Bushland were tied 12-12 after one period. 

The Wolves used a big second quarter to take the lead for good. Blanco remained on fire, knocking down three more three-pointers and scoring 12 points during the second. Schniederjan also hit a three and scored six points, and Aaron Camacho nailed a three as well. At halftime the score was 33-20 in favor of Dalhart. 

The third quarter was close, with Dalhart outscoring Bushland 17-16. Garcia hit a three and led the team with five points in the period. Trusler and Drew each scored four points, and Blanco and Allen added two points apiece. Dalhart’s lead was 50- 36 at the end of the third. 

More points were scored by both teams in the fourth quarter than any other period. Blanco, Drew and Garcia each scored six points in the final period, and Trusler added four points. Bushland outscored the Wolves 24-22, which wasn’t nearly enough and the Wolves won by a final score of 72-60. 

Blanco led the team with 26 points, including five threes. Garcia scored 15 points, and Drew added 10 points. Drew had six rebounds, and Kash Grimsley, Trusler, Schniederjan and Blanco each had two rebounds. Garcia and Blanco had five assists each, and Schniederjan and Grimsley each had two assists. Garcia had five steals and Trusler and Blanco each had three steals, and Trusler also had three blocks. 

In other District 1-3A games on Tuesday, Canadian beat Bushland 47-34 and Tulia beat River Road 77-33. On Friday, Canadian beat Tulia 69- 47 and Childress beat River Road 82-27. As of February 9, Dalhart and Canadian are both 6-1, Bushland is 4-3, Childress is 3-4, Tulia is 1-5 and River Road is 0-6. Dalhart and Canadian have both now secured playoff spots, since even if they lost every remaining game they would still be in the top four. 

The Wolves were scheduled to play at Canadian on Tuesday February 10. They will play River Road at home tomorrow, Friday February 13, with the freshmen playing at 4 p.m., the JV playing at 5:15 p.m., and the varsity playing at 6:30 p.m. (The girls will have finished the regular season on Tuesday, although there is a possibility of a seeding game at a neutral location.) Dalhart’s final game of the season will be at Tulia on Tuesday February 17, with the same game times.

 

Male Athlete of the Week

BY BILL KELLY
Dalhart Texan

The Dalhart Texan Male Athlete of the Week is Hunter Trusler. Trusler is a senior on the Dalhart Golden Wolves basketball team, and he was also named athlete of the week twice earlier in the year for football. 

Trusler has been on varsity since he was a sophomore, and has been one of the main players on the team most of that time. He doesn’t always score a lot of points since the Wolves have other scorers, but he is almost always one of the top rebounders, and is often one of the leaders in assists and steals as well. 

Trusler had two great games last week for the Wolves as they remained tied for first place in district. The Wolves fell behind by 10 points to Childress on February 3, and Trusler did much of the work bringing them back and winning the game. Trusler scored all nine of his points during that final period. That included a layup that finished the comeback and tied the score at 40-40. Trusler was fouled on that play, and hit the free throw to finish the three-point play and give the Wolves the lead. That turned out to be the winning point, as Childress never scored again, but Trusler did help pad the lead with a couple of more free throws. Trusler also had four rebounds and four steals, along with two blocks. 

Trusler also played well in Dalhart’s win over Bushland last Friday. He scored eight points in the game, all in the second half. He also had two rebounds, three steals and three blocks during the game. 

Dalhart played Canadian a couple of nights ago, and will play River Road at home tomorrow and Tulia on the road next Tuesday. They are in a very good position to receive the top seed in Division I, and will start the playoffs either February 23 or 24. If Trusler and his teammates keep playing well, they could bring home some hardware from the playoffs for the first time in a few years. 

Honorable Mention: 

Talon Garcia: Dalhart basketball. Garcia is a senior and has been athlete of the week for both football and basketball this year. He scored nine points against Childress, and had three rebounds, two assists and two steals. Garcia scored 15 points in the win over Bushland last Friday, and had five assists, five steals and a rebound. 

Branston Potter: Texline basketball. Potter is a freshman and was named athlete of the week a couple of weeks ago. He led Texline in scoring in both games last week, scoring 19 points against Pringle-Morse on February 3 and putting up 21 points against Wildorado on February 6. 

Bo Bradley: Texline basketball. Bradley is a sophomore and was athlete of the week a few weeks ago. He scored 18 points against Pringle-Morse on Tuesday February 3, and had 15 points against Wildorado last Friday. 

Zach Drew: Dalhart basketball. Drew is a senior and was named athlete of the week earlier in the season. He scored five points against Childress, and had seven rebounds, one steal and one assist. Drew scored 10 points against Bushland on February 6, and had six rebounds, an assist and a block.