| Patriots
edged in state opener
The Summit Academy Patriots rallied from a 12 point deficit to take the lead with 20 seconds to play but couldn’t keep that lead as eventual state champion Mackay pulled out a 41-42 win in the opening round of the 1-A Division 2 State Tournament at Caldwell High School Thursday, March 5. 
Summit fell behind 0-4 to start the game but answered with an 8-0 run to take the lead. Dylan Prigge stole the ball and drove for a lay-up and then converted the 3-point play to put Summit on the board. Dustin Lustig then gave the Patriots their first lead with a 3-pointer and Josh Frei added a basket to make it 8-4. Mackay rallied to tie the score at 9-9 at the end of the quarter with the tying basket coming on a 3-pointer at the buzzer. A basket each from David Johnson, Chase Nuxoll and Dustin Lustig gave Summit a 15-11 lead. After a 3-pointer from Mackay, Prigge scored on a tip-in and after another Mackay basket he drove in for a lay-up with 3:47 left in the half to give Summit a 19-15 lead. Summit then went ice-cold as Mackay rallied to take a 19-21 halftime lead and scored the first 10 points of the second half to take a 19-31 lead. Summit finally got back on the scoreboard when Prigge putback a missed free throw by Johnson with 2:10 left in the third quarter. Dustin Lustig then scored to make it 23-31 after 3 quarters. The teams traded scores for much of the fourth quarter with Mackay still holding an 8 point lead at 32-40 with 2:47 left. At that point Johnson got hot for Summit as he scored on a short turnaround jumper. After Mackay missed on a free throw, Summit rebounded and that led to a jump hook in the lane by Johnson. Another Mackay turnover led to a 3-point play by Johnson that trimmed the lead to 1 point with 43 seconds left. With 36 seconds left Prigge rebounded a missed front end of a 1 and 1 by Mackay’s Juston Warner. 16 seconds later Johnson got the ball in the lane again and hit another turnaround jumper to give Summit the lead with 20 seconds left. Mackay inbounded the ball and rushed the ball downcourt with Zach Donnot scoring a lay-up with just 10 seconds left. Summit called a timeout to set up a play but Mackay’s press forced a turnover with 5 seconds left and Mackay was able to pull out the win. Johnson wound up with 13 points to lead the Patriots in scoring with 11 of those coming in the fourth quarter rally. Dustin Lustig scored 12, Prigge 10, Nuxoll 4 and Frei 2. Summit held a 34-26 edge on the boards with Prigge grabbing 9 rebounds and Johnson 8. Frei had 4 steals while Dustin Lustig had 3. Frei had 3 assists. Summit hit 18 of 49 shots from the field, 37%, with 9 of those misses coming on blocked shots by Mackay. Summit was 3 for 6 at the line, 50%. Mackay was 18 for 45 from the field, 40%, and 4 for 9 at the line, 44%. Mackay had a pattern of taking a big lead and then letting their opponent back in the rest of the tournament as well as they took a big lead against Richfield in the semifinal and then had to win in overtime and in the final against Garden Valley they led by nearly 20 at one point and won by only 4. Summit 9 10 4 18 -41 Mackay 9 12 10 11 -42 Summit-J. Lustig 0-1, 0-0, 0; D. Lustig 5-12, 0-0, 12; Prigge 4-13, 2-3, 10; C. Nuxoll 2-4, 0-0, 4; Frei 1-5, 0-0, 2; Johnson 6-12, 1-3, 13; Chmelik 0-2, 0-0, 0. 3-pointers-D. Lustig 2. Mackay-Hoagland 4-8, 0-0, 8; Karr 0-, 0-0, 0; Smyer 4-7, 0-2, 9; Donnot 6-9, 0-0, 12; Krosch 3-18, 4-6, 10; Warner 1-3, 0-1, 3. 3-pointers-Smyer, Warner. Summit outscores Clark County Still jolted a bit by their last second 42-41 loss to eventual state champ Mackay in round 1, Summit Academy took no chances in Friday’s loser out contest, coming out blazing with 29 floor goals connecting of 53 tries to down Clark County’s Bobcats, giving them a shot at the 4th place consolation trophy on Saturday. The “blazing start” was a bit slow in coming however, as the Patriots found themselves down 9 to 1 before starting their torrid shooting pace, and before putting the defensive clamps on Clark County in the third quarter. Sophomore David Johnson had the hottest Patriot hand, connecting on 14 of 18 goals from the field, and a perfect 4 of 4 from the line to lead all scorers with 32 points. Johnson also added six boards and two assists to his day’s work. Other Patriots scoring and rebounding in the Patriot first ever state win: Joseph Lustig 2/1, Dustin Lustig 11/2 with six assists, Dylan Prigge 18/7 with seven assists, Dustin and Dylan constantly dumping inside to David when the Bobcat came out on them, Chase Nuxoll 6/3, and Josh Frei 0/3 as shots normally made kept rimming out. Defensively, Frei was a standout, as shots normally made kept rimming out. Defensively, Frei was a standout, as he recorded a game high 4 steals, and constantly disrupted the Bobcat offense. Quarter scores in the contest with Summit first, enduring the slow start: 7-13, 27-31, 45-43, and the final 69-18 as the local team outscored their opponents 42 to 30 in the second half. Summit falls to Carey in consolation final Saturday’s efforts to bring home their first ever state trophy went by the wayside Saturday morning, as the Summit Patriots fell behind early, trailing 7 to 13 at the quarter break, then rallied to outscore their opponents Carey 16 to 11 in the second quarter to pull within one at half time 23 to 24. Clamping down a bit on Carey’s Trevor Peck who had netted four threes in the first half to keep Carey in the game, Carey unable to score in the paint against Summit’s tough inside zone, Summit edged into the lead 36 to 35 at the three quarter break, and seemed to have the game in control going into the fourth, sharp-shooting Peck saddled with 4 fouls and Carey still unable to score inside. Disaster hit the Patriots early in the fourth however, as starter Josh Frei, diving for a loose ball had the misfortune of a Carey player landing on his head, enduring a severe mouth and nose injury, and momentarily derailing Summit’s tough defense, as Carey scored only their second two-point goal of the half to rally back and cut into the Summit lead. Frei’s absence was a blow to the Patriots, as his cold tournament hand had suddenly turned hot, his seven points in the crucial third quarter leading all scorers during that period; while his defensive tenacity and six board effort to that time was sorely missed. Tied at 45 to 45 in the fourth, Summit without Frei’s temporary absence, he did return after a time on the bench, suffered other blows as starter Chase Nuxoll fouled out shortly thereafter, and was soon followed to the bench with five by David Johnson, Johnson’s hot hand from the day before having cooled a bit, having scored on only three goals of eight at the time, harassed constantly by two to three Carey defenders in the paint. The loss of Nuxoll and Johnson proved costly to Summit inside as Carey, limited to one 2-point goal in the entire second and third quarters, managed four in the fourth after the injury to Frei and the loss of Nuxoll with 6 boards and Johnson with 7. Falling behind a bit, Summit was forced to foul, resulting in 13 points scored by Carey from the line in the fourth, contributing to a 21 to 16 scoring difference, and a final 52-56 loss for the local team. Scoring, rebounding, and steal stats for the game follow: Joseph Lustig 1/4/0, Dustin Lustig 9/5/2 with 2 assistes, Johnson 6/7/1, Prigge, leading all scorers, 26/4/1 with 3 assists, Frei 7/6/3 with one assist, and Nuxoll 3/6/0. Carey managed to stay with the Patriots by netting seven treys during the game, lead by Peck’s five, and one each from Simpson and Adamson. Even though Summit recorded only one win at the tourney, players and fans alike were buoyed up by the fact that the Patriot’s had outscored their three opponents by a total of three points, had come within a few seconds and one point of knocking off state champs Mackay, and had come back from 12 down in the first game and 10 in the last after slow starts. The Carey loss marked Summit’s 30th game for the season, with a 12 and 8 regular season, then 2-1 records in district competition at Highland, another 2-1 record in regionals at Moscow and Lewiston, a win in the pay-in game at Grangeville, and the 1-2 record at state, all totaling a final season record of 18-12 for the long season. Seniors Dustin and Joseph Lustig, and Chase Nuxoll will graduate, but with staters Johnson, Frei, and Prigge returning, along with upcoming frosh and sophs, Summit hopes to return to state again next year!  |
 |