LINN — Returning to the bench after an over decade-long absence, former Belle High School (BHS) head girls basketball coach Jeff Schultz opened his first season as head boys basketball coach Monday night with a Highway 89 road showdown against Linn’s Wildcats coached by former Belle head coach John Viehland.

Trailing 11-9 at the 1:19 mark of the first quarter, Tiger senior Hank Stratman canned a pair of 3-pointers in a 30-second span during the final minute of the opening quarter giving Belle a 15-11 lead.

Never trailing from there, Belle gave Schultz his first win in over a decade following a 66-49 victory over Linn in Osage County.

This was also Schultz’s 200th coaching win figuring in his successful stint at Belle Lady Tiger head basketball coach back in the late 2000s.

“Our guys played well for this being their first game,” Schultz said. “We had three guys score in double figures and almost had a fourth one. If we can do that every night, we’ll be hard to beat.”

Stratman then hit three free throws at the 6:41 mark of the second quarter after he was fouled shooting a 3-pointer giving him nine consecutive points for the Tigers.

After Linn cut Belle’s lead to six at 25-19 with 3:22 until halftime, Belle ended the first half on a 12-0 run sparked and capped by Kelhen Struemph buckets giving the Tigers a 37-19 halftime lead.

Catching fire late in the first quarter and early in the second, Stratman paced the Belle offense with 16 first-half points.

Garrett Gehlert also helped the Tigers with eight points and five assists in the opening half.

Nash Tyree led Linn with five first-half points.

Seeing the Wildcats trim their lead back to 10 points at 44-34 with 3:21 for the third quarter, Belle ended the period on an 8-1 run capped by a Luke Rohrer 3-pointer that beat the third-quarter buzzer.

Throughout the fourth quarter, Belle had five different Tigers get into the scoring column with Rohrer starting the scoring hitting another 3-pointer at the 7:25 mark of the final period.

Gehlert followed with a free throw before Kaegan Kinsey and Hank Willis each hit a pair of baskets helping the Tigers to an eventual season-opening victory.

Calling blackjack in the win, Stratman finished with a game-high 21 points for the Tigers while adding five assists and five rebounds to his point total.

Struemph followed with 13 points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals while Willis rounded out the double-digit scoring trio for the Tigers with 11 points, two rebounds and two blocked shots.

Gehlert nearly made it four Tigers in double figures and almost finished with a double double in the process.

Dishing out six assists in the second half, Gehlert finished with nine points, 11 assists, four steals and three rebounds.

Rohrer added six points on a pair of 3-pointers to go along with three steals all in the second half.

Kinsey netted all four of his points in the fourth quarter while Kooper Elrod rounded out the Tiger scoring at Linn on a second-quarter bucket for two points while also grabbing four rebounds and blocking two shots.

Tony Peters led the host Wildcats with 12 points and six rebounds while Tyree also reached double figures for Viehland’s Linn varsity squad with 10 points and two steals.

Gus Peters almost made it three Wildcats in double figures finishing with eight points and a team-high six rebounds.

Dawson Sprenger added five points all in the fourth quarter to go with three rebounds.

Kahne Brandt and Cody Heckman each chipped in four points for the Wildcats who were followed closely by Aaron Starke with three points.

Peyton Peters kicked in two points with a second-quarter bucket while Colton Leivian rounded out the Wildcat scoring against Belle with one point on a third-quarter free throw.

“I’m proud of how hard our guys have played against two good teams to start the season,” Viehland said. “So far, we’ve gone against St. Elizabeth who is the defending state champion in Class 1 boys basketball and Belle who will be a good team this year.”

Belle JV at Linn

Nick Halbrook made his high school head-coaching debut for Belle’s Tigers Monday night taking on Linn’s JV Wildcats in Highway 89 road hoops action at Osage County’s Linn dome.

Leading 33-32 with 4:27 remaining on a Lathan Miller bucket, Belle saw Linn end the game on an 11-4 run which included a pair of clutch 3-pointers from Jackson Hamburg and Kayden Monroe sending Belle to the wrong side of a 43-37 final score.

Battling through six lead changes and two ties over the first seven minutes, a Miller free throw with 14.6 for the first quarter gave the JV Tigers an 11-10 lead entering the second quarter.

Down 23-15 at halftime, Belle fought back behind the duo of Tucker Harris and Miller to take a 31-30 lead after three quarter before eventually falling to Linn.

Harris led the JV Tigers and with a game-high double double of 20 points and 15 rebounds.

Miller also finished in double digits with 10 points for Belle while Braxton Ahart added four points.

Cody Hamm chipped in two points and four rebounds while Brayden Barzee rounded out the JV Tiger scoring with one point on a first-quarter free throw.

In spite of not getting in the scoring column, David Skaggs pulled down 11 rebounds to go with three assists and three steals.

Monroe led Linn’s JV Wildcats with 13 points and was followed closely by Hamburg with 12 points.

Pulling down four rebounds each for Linn were Dawson Sprenger, Hunter Bish, Landon Brown and Ian Laughlin.

After playing last night (Tuesday) on the road at New Haven, Belle’s Tigers will then return to action on Friday, Dec. 5 in the annual Maries County Advocate Battle of Maries County boys basketball game against Vienna’s Eagles at BHS with a 5:30 p.m., tip time for JV action.