OHS Boys end season with loss at district

Orofino High School Maniac Boy's Basketball Team season came to a close Wednesday night as the Grangeville Bulldogs beat the Maniacs by a final score of Grangeville 44 Orofino 43 at the District 2A basketball tournament.

The Bulldogs came out with a very strong zone defense that played havoc with the Maniacs all night long. The Bulldogs did not allow the Maniacs the second or third shot most of the night. At the end of the first period, the score was tied 12 to 12 most of that due to DJ Wright's and Jarrod Mangum's three point shots.

Sean Diffen did not start the game, but when he came in, was throwing the ball away enough that he got sat right back down by Coach Tony Snyder. Diffen did come back a couple of minutes later and was more effective with his game. Neither team shot well in the second quarter. The difference was Orofino was in foul trouble and that sent the Bulldogs to the line where they got a lot of their points. Half time score was Grangeville 23 Orofino 18.

Not much changed for the third quarter from the first half. In the fourth, the light bulb came on and life started to come to the Maniac team. Wright hit the go ahead basket with three minutes left in the game. From their on out, the game was very tight between the two teams. Again Grangeville was kept in the game due to violations committed by the Maniacs. With 14.5 seconds left in the game, score was Grangeville 44 Orofino 41. It was Orofino's ball out of bounds at the Grangeville end of the court. The Maniacs brought the ball down court giving the ball to Wright outside of the three point ring. He was being heavily guarded and drove the ball to the basket for two points hoping for a foul. That did not happen and Grangeville won the game by one point.

Photos: Top--Jarrod Mangum drives the ball toward the basket. Ben Hosley (left) and Sean Diffen are in the background. Second--Wayde Garland attempts a shot but misses. Sean Diffen is in the background. Third--DJ Wrights struggles for space to make a shot. Brad Popoff is in the background.