BELMONT — The Belmont Braves boys’ basketball team opened the 2017-18 season with a pair of non-conference losses to Six Rivers East foes.
    Argyle senior Brent Ritschard scored 17 of his game-high 26 points in the second half to rally the Orioles past the Braves, 56-49, in their season opener at BHS on Tuesday, Nov. 28
    The Braves (0-2 overall) connected on five 3-pointers in the first half to shoot out to a 22-21 halftime lead, but the Orioles (1-2) opened the second half with seven unanswered points to grab a 28-22 advantage and they held the lead for the rest of the night.
    Belmont cut the gap to 31-30 on a trey by junior guard Colin Austin with 13:10 to go, however, the Orioles answered with a 9-0 run to go ahead 40-30.
    Austin hit another 3 and sank two free throws to get the deficit back to 50-47 with 2:16 remaining, but the Braves missed two 3-point attempts and misfired on six straight free throws at one point as the Orioles held on for the win.
    Austin finished with four 3s and a team-high 22 points for the Braves. Junior guard Ethan James dropped in nine points on three 3s, while sophomore guard Luke Kamps netted eight points on the night.
    Gavin Johnson chipped in with 14 points for Argyle.
    At Albany, on Friday, Dec. 1, three players scored in double figures led by junior Josh Dahl with a game-high 19 points as the host Comets (1-2) bombed the Braves, 61-38.
    Juniors Corbin Kelley and Jamison Stauffacher chipped in with 15 and 14 points, respectively, for the Comets.
    Colin Austin led Belmont with 13 points and Luke Kamps chipped in with 12 points for the Braves.
    “The first two games for us have been good learning experiences. There are some simple things we need to fix and both games turned around for us. Our team has a good energy about them, so these first two games won’t phase us and look forward to competing,” said Belmont head coach Mitch Austin.
    Belmont hosts Potsoi in a Six Rivers West game on Friday, Dec. 8, and travels to Highland for another league contest on Tuesday, Dec. 12.
 
Argyle……… 21   35 – 56
Belmont…… 22   27 – 49
    Argyle – Ritschard 26, Stietz 5, Johnson 14, Carius 5, H. Flannery 4, Godfrey 2. Totals – 22  12-23  56.
    Belmont – Justan Ernst 5, Ethan James 9, Jacob Amenda 5, Colin Austin 22, Luke Kamps 8. Totals – 13  14-24  49.
    3-point goals– A 0, B 9 (Ernst 1, James 3, Austin 4, Kamps 1). Total fouls– A 22, B 18. Fouled out– A: Stietz; B: Austin.
 
Belmont……. 16   22 – 38
Albany……… 32   29 – 61
    Belmont – Chris Fure 1, Justan Ernst 3, Jacob Amenda 7, Colin Austin 13, Tommy Logsdon 2, Luke Kamps 12. Totals – 12  10-17  38.
    Albany – Dahl 19, Parker 3, Stephan 2, Kelley 15, Hulbert 5, Stauffacher 14, #42 3. Totals – 19  20-27  61.
    3-point goals– B 4 (Austin 1, Kamps 3), A 3 (Dahl 1, Kelley 1, Hulbert 1). Total fouls– B 21, A 18. Fouled out–B: Connor Wiegel.