The Turner boys basketball team closed out 2023 with a home contest against the North Country Mavericks on Tuesday, December 19th. The Tornadoes entered the contest at 3-3 and were looking to add another win before the New Year. Turner did just that with a dominant 90-50 win over the Mavericks.

The Mavericks scored the opening points of the contest, taking a 2-0 lead on their opening possession. Turner responded with a great pass from senior Trent Billmayer to junior Caleb Zellmer to even the contest at 2-2. Doyle then drove hard down the left side and drew the AND one. Doyle knocked down the free throw to give Turner the 5-3 lead with 5:13 to go in the first quarter.

Doyle scored going to the basket going down the right side, then stole the inbound for another score to take the 9-3 lead. Billmayer used a screen and found Zellmer going to the basket for 2 points.

Junior Carson Maloney connected from long for a three and a 14-5 lead. Doyle followed with a 3 from the right corner, pushing the lead to 17-7 and resulting in a North Country timeout.

Doyle drove to the basket for an easy left-hand bucket after the break. Doyle passed to Billmayer with time running out to give Turner the 21-10 lead to end the first quarter.

Junior Tate Beck started the second with a triple from the right corner. Maloney hit a three from the left elbow to push the lead to 26-10 with 6:43 in the first half. Beck went 2-2 from the charity stripe to keep the Turner offense rolling.

Doyle kept up the hot three-point shooting with a triple from the left to take a 31-16 lead. Doyle then passed down to Zellmer on the low block for a bucket and another Maverick timeout.

Beck knocked down another triple from the top coming out of the break to push the lead to 36-16 with four to go in the half. The Tornadoes would take a 47-20 lead into the halftime locker room. Getting four bombs from beyond the arch, including a pair from Beck.

Turner added 23 points in the third quarter, getting a pair of trifectas and ten points from Billmayer to take a 70-38 lead into the 4th quarter. Turner would finish the game strong, scoring 20 in the final frame, securing a 90-50 win over the Mavericks. The Tornadoes were on fire from a distance, knocking down 11 collectively. Doyle led the Tornadoes with 24 points, including two trifectas. Billmayer knocked down three from distance while scoring 19; Zellmer added 16 points to the Turner total. Rounding out the Tornadoes' double-digit scores was Maloney with 15 and Beck with 12.

Turner will return to the court in the new year when they head west to take on the Box Elder Bears on Friday, January 5. The following night, the Tornadoes will return home to take on the Fort Benton Longhorns in an important District 9C clash.