The Sky View Bobcats needed to bounce back in a big way after a disappointing 54-52 loss at Highland, Idaho before Christmas break. Sophomore guard Ty Nielsen, who had been averaging five points a game, came off the bench to score 12 points and swipe three steals to lead the Bobcats over the Morgan Trojans, 57-38.

“I thought it was a good team win tonight,” Bobcat head coach Kevin Anderson said.

The Bobcats (4-2) struggled on offense in the first half, but they were able to keep in things close with tough defense and rebounding. The Bobcats out-rebounded the Trojans 20-15 and forced them into 18 turnovers.

“We’ve been talking about it all practice,” Nielsen said. “I just thought I needed to step up and help our team out and play good defense.”

Senior guard Casey Evans led the Trojans (6-4) with 15 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the floor and 2-of-6 shooting from the 3-point line, but he didn’t get much help as he was the only Trojan to reach double figure scoring. Senior guard Dallin Schenk finished the night with eight points for the Trojans.

The Bobcats have a huge size advantage over most teams, but it was their perimeter play that kept them in the game early on. Only six of the Bobcats 26 first-half points came inside the paint. In the second half the Bobcats turned to their strength in the post, and began to pull away from the undersized Trojans.

“They were small enough that we could pretty much go inside and score any time we wanted,” Junior center Casey Oliverson said.

Oliverson finished the night with 11 points and seven rebounds to go with two blocks.

“Second half I thought our execution was better offensively, and I was proud of our effort on the defensive end and rebounds,” Anderson said.

The Bobcats out-scored the Trojans 31-16 in the second half. The Bobcats held the Trojans to 11-of-28 shooting from the field and 2-of-15 shooting from the 3-point line.

The Bobcats will now prepare for Region 5 play, as they open up against a team much like the Trojans in the Mountain Crest Mustangs on Wednesday. Senior Troy Picket, 6’4", leads the scrappy Mustangs who will be undersized against the Bobcats.

“These previous six game really mean nothing,” Anderson said. “The real season starts next week. Mountain Crest is a scrappy team and they’ll be hard to beat.”

Tip-off between the Bobcats and Mustangs is set for 7 p.m. on Wednesday at Bobcat Gym.

Stats

Sky View — Grayson Moore 14, Ty Nielsen 12, Casey Oliverson 11, Riley Knowles 6, Jordan Nielson 4, Colton Arave 3, Don Corbell 3. Total 57.

Morgan — Casey Evans 15, Dallin Schenk 8, Tad Sargent 4, Jared Brooks 4, Jed Rowlan 2. Total 38.