Tigers drop pair of games

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HENRYVILLE

The Crothersville boys basketball team dropped both games in the McKee Munk Tournament on Tuesday and is on a five-game losing streak.

Following a 57-44 loss to Henryville in the opening round at 10 a.m., the Tigers put on a much stronger performance in the consolation finals against Hauser later in the day.

Despite a late rally against the Jets, the Tigers fell 53-45 to move to 1-9 on the season.

In the first quarter against the Jets, the Tigers found themselves down 16-8 at the 2:42 mark when Zach Gearhart drilled a 3-pointer.

The Jets’ offense was efficient in the first eight minutes, as the team netted three 3-pointers, six fields goals and all three free-throw attempts to amass a 24-15 lead.

With only two field goals and two made free throws in the second quarter, the Tigers would trail the Jets 33-21 at halftime.

It was much of the same for the Tigers in the third quarter, as they only put up six points to the Jets’ 11 after the half.

The Jets held a 19-point lead at one point in the third quarter.

In the fourth quarter, things got interesting.

In the first few seconds, the Jets were dealt a technical foul for having six players on the court.

Trailing 44-27, the Tigers started the final quarter on a 7-0 run with 6:44 remaining after a made free throw by junior Eli Mollet on the technical and 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions from freshman Cameron Luedeman and sophomore Conner Adams.

The Tigers’ Luedeman drilled another shot from behind the arc to narrow the deficit to 48-43 with 2:36 remaining.

Unfortunately for the Tigers, they couldn’t finish the comeback as the Jets closed the game on a forced turnover with 1:05 remaining.

“I’m trying to convince the guys that we need to put four quarters together,” Kilgore said. “We haven’t had one game where we put four together; tonight we put two together. We need to get to a point where we get to where we were in the fourth quarter tonight and sustain that.”

The Jets out-rebounded the Tigers 27-14 on

the night.

“In the fourth quarter I thought we boxed out better,” Kilgore said. “The first quarter was really bad; it was a seven-point game and we had already given up five or six rebounds. In the third quarter we gave up some big offensive rebounds that turned into kick-out threes. They’re pretty efficient with the basketball, so you need to rebound because they’re running down 45 seconds on the clock.”

Off the bench, Luedeman finished with seven points, including two big 3-pointers in the final stretch of the game.

“Cameron (Luedeman) has come in a couple times this year and hit some big shots. After he hit the second (3-pointer) I looked over at the JV coach and said, ‘He may have played his last JV quarter for you,’” Kilgore said. “He’s a pretty level-headed freshman. I think he needs to look a little more aggressive on the court.

“The biggest thing for a freshman is self-

confidence. Once he finds that I think he will be a very good varsity basketball player.”

The Tigers will return to action at the South Ripley Tournament on Dec. 29.

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