Sand Rock boys fall short in basketball season opener against Fyffe 71-59

Sand Rock’s Cam Gifford goes up strong to the basket against Fyffe on Tuesday. Photo by Shannon Fagan.

By Shannon Fagan, WEIS Sports Director

SAND ROCK – If Tuesday night’s performance against Fyffe is any indication, the Sand Rock boys basketball team appears to have turned a corner from its two-win season from a year ago.

The Wildcats held their own against the Red Devils, but Alex Nelson’s six 3-pointers helped Fyffe pull away for a 71-59 victory.

Nelson led the Red Devils with 20 points.

“He (Nelson) hit some big shots. Every time we made a long run, he’d knock a big shot down,” Sand Rock coach Nick Traffanstedt said. “We made some runs, pushed it to the limit and gave it everything we’ve got, but then we had some fatigued players on the court and didn’t quite get the close out that we needed.”

Sand Rock (0-1) trailed by just six points at halftime, 30-24. The Wildcats managed to tie the game at 35 in the third quarter following a rebound and basket by Wyatt Miller. Fyffe then went on a 17-7 run to close out the third, aided by a pair of back-to-back treys from Nelson with 1:30 remaining.

The Wildcats made another run in the fourth, cutting the Red Devil lead to four at 54-50 on a made basket by Ty Traffanstedt with under five minutes to go.

But once again, Nelson delivered from behind the 3-point line. He sank three treys in the final four minutes to put the game out of reach.

“I knew he could shoot, but we kind of ran some zones and changed some things up,” Coach Traffanstedt said. “We were trying some new things. It’s the first game and we’re testing things out with new rotations, but he lit us up tonight. He made us pay for that.”

Cooper Cox also had a solid night for Fyffe with 19 points, including three treys in the second quarter. Jaden Hammonds had 11 points and Jesse Burt finished with 10 points.

Ty Traffanstedt led four Sand Rock players in double figures with 18 points, including a pair of 3-pointers. He also had three steals and an assist. Miller managed 14 points, nine rebounds and a steal. Cam Gifford gained 12 points, five rebounds and two assists. Jonas Browder finished with 10 points, five assists, three rebounds and a steal.

“I do believe this year is going to be a good year for us,” Coach Traffanstedt said. “I hate to lose, but I knew that Fyffe game was going to be tough. I knew they had two or three games under their belt before we played them. I knew we’d have the jitters and they were going to be smoothing things out. I couldn’t be prouder of our guys. I thought they all did really well.”

Sand Rock is at Hokes Bluff on Thursday.

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