Tigercats battle through busy week of play

The Tigercats played two regularly scheduled games and one rescheduled game last week. The Tigercats faced Colton, Touchet and St. John-Endicott, losing the first game against Colton, 39-65.

Jed Zimmer led the Tigercats in scoring with a total of 15 points. Darcy Stamper scored seven points and Alec Fleming scored six points. Austin Summers scored five points and Sam Harder scored four points. Jim Hopkins rounded out the Tigercats total score with two points.

The Patchen brothers from Colton, Dustin and Dalton, scored a combined 31 points against the Tigercats. Dustin scored 16 points and Dalton scored 15 points. The Straughan brothers, Jake and Josh, scored a combined 28 points in the game.

The Tigercats rolled over the Touchet Indians, winning the game with a final score of 56-27. Jake Aune and Justin Wargo returned after not playing in the game against Colton. Zimmer led the team in scoring with 14 points.

Stamper scored 12 points in the game and Wargo scored eight points, half of which came from converted free throws. Harder sank three two-point shots, while Summers scored five points.

Fleming made a three point shot, Aune sank three free throws and Matt Stubbs also scored three points. Joey Guske rounded out the final score by making two free throw shots in the fourth quarter.

“Overall, the kids played really hard and did a good job limiting them on second chance opportunities as well as stopping their fast breaks,” said head coach Mike Jones. “The kids played good, aggressive, defense, had good ball movement and shot well.”

With a technical foul early in the game on a Touchet player, the Tigercats took advantage of the fouls and converted those into points.

The Tigercats shot 13 for 19 from the free throw line in the game versus the Indians.

“We stayed out of foul trouble and worked hard, and when we do those two things, we stay out of trouble,” said Jones. “I told the kids that once we make 15 points from the free throw line in a game, we’ll win that game. But 13 is close enough, and we got the win.”

The Indians focused defensively on traps; especially with trapping posts players low in the key. Zimmer worked for every point he made, usually working against at least two of the Indian’s defenders.

The Tigercats faced St. John-Endicott on Saturday, losing by the slim margin of three points with the final score of 51-54. The Tigercats and the Eagles battled the entire game with the score at halftime being 23-24 and the third quarter score had the Tigercats up by one, 37-36.

Zimmer again led the time in scoring with a total of 15 points and Stamper scored 13 points. Aune scored seven points, while Summers hit two three-point shots.

Taylor Martin and Fleming each hit a three-point shot in the third quarter. Stubbs and Wargo each scored two points in the game.

The Tigercats continued to make free throws, converting eight of the 10 attempts from the line. Both teams battled the entire game, and no team ever led by more than four points.

“It was a fun game! It had that playoff type of atmosphere, there was a large crowd and the whole game was back and forth,” said Jones. “For the most part, it was a hard contested game. Both teams played extremely hard and did things well. We unfortunately ran out of time. They ended on a run, and a few more minutes, maybe we could’ve finished on a run.”

A few turnovers by the Tigercats in the second half led to run outs and gave the Eagles about eight points earned on fast breaks. The Tigercats had a chance to tie the game in the final seconds, but the hurried shot did not fall.

“It comes down to the same thing, just little mistakes here and there. We rebounded well, but what we didn’t rebound, they put back,” said Jones. “We’re working on rebounding more consistently and moving the ball better. Right now, we’re in a good position for districts, so we’re excited for the next couple of weeks.”

The Tigercats currently rank as the fifth place team in the league and look forward to competing in the district competition. But for now, the Tigercats are focusing on the last two league games on Friday and Saturday against Tekoa-Oakesdale and Rosalia.