By Shannon Fagan, WEIS Sports Director
JACKSONVILLE – Prior to Tuesday night, none of the current players on the Sand Rock boys basketball team had ever experienced what a Northeast Regional game felt like.
Meanwhile, North Sand Mountain has been a consistent contender at Pete Mathews Coliseum in Jacksonville, and it showed on Tuesday. The Bison trampled over the Wildcats 54-29 to end their season at 21-12.
“I’ll be honest. We came out a little shell-shocked,” said junior guard Jonas Browder, who led the Wildcats with 13 points. “It’s all the lights. You’ve got all the fans. I know Coach T (Nick Traffanstedt) said don’t look at them, but it’s tough not to. It’s a big deal.”
Traffanstedt agreed with Browder.
“I told them before the game it’s different,” he said. “They’ve got that college (3-point) line. You don’t have time to stop and think which line I’m shooting behind. It’s just reaction.
“Having that exposure, it’s going to be huge to them because, like he said, we didn’t play the best of games, but the great thing about it is we’re a junior-led team. We’re going to get another shot at this thing hopefully if we keep working hard.”
Being shell-shocked reared its head early for the Wildcats, as North Sand Mountain (23-9) jumped out to a 17-6 lead in the first quarter. The Bison led 27-12 at halftime, and 44-19 after three quarters.
Jack Johnson led the Bison with 21 points. Brody Helton rang for 19 points and grabbed nine rebounds. Duncan Wilks finished with nine points and seven boards.
“You’ve got to give credit to North Sand Mountain. They’ve got a lot of seniors, and they came out and hit us in the mouth,” Traffanstedt said. “We never took a shot without a hand in our face. They played really good defense. Credit to them. They played really, really well on defense.
Elijah Hood had eight points for Sand Rock. Will Cleere grabbed six rebounds.
As Traffanstedt mentioned, the future appears bright for the Wildcats. They’ve steadily progressed since going 2-28 in his first season as head coach when many of the current roster were freshmen.
“Last year we did a little better. We didn’t quite get to 20 wins, but we’ve taken those steps, this group has,” Traffanstedt said. “These guys have put in the work, and you’ve seen the progression. Next year I’m expecting a bigger step. We’ll have bigger goals.
“After today, that white board I have our goals on, I’m going to erase it and place our new goals up there. We have a year to get to them. We’re going to get Tyde (Traffanstedt) back (from an ACL injury). He’ll be healthy in June. We’re going to hit the weight room. I expect big things from us next year, I really do.”
