CROTHERSVILLE
Despite holding visiting Henryville to five points in the third quarter, the Crothersville boys basketball team couldn’t mount a comeback in the final eight minutes in a 46-34 loss Saturday.
While the Tigers locked in defensively in the third, they only managed to score two points going into the fourth quarter against the Southern Athletic Conference foe.
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“That was our quarter to get in it, but we only scored two,” Tigers coach Greg Kilgore said. “I thought our defense was great, though. They did a great job getting rebounds and playing defense. We couldn’t put it in the ocean on our end, but we stayed in the game.”
In the opening three minutes of the game, the Hornets opened on an 8-0 run behind six points by sophomore Nick Walker.
A 3-pointer by Crothersville junior Collyn Claywell ended the streak, but the Tigers trailed 13-7 after one quarter.
The Tigers went on a 6-2 run to start the second quarter to pull within two, but Henryville answered with a 7-0 scoring string to distance themselves at 22-13 with 2:54 left in the first half.
“We decided we wanted to attack their man-to-man defense,” Kilgore said. “In the second half, we did a really good job of attacking that pressure that Henryville puts on you. They had to back off or make us shoot some free throws.”
At intermission, the Hornets held a 24-17 advantage.
Neither team could get their offense rolling in the third, as Crothersville went two-for-four from the free throw line and Henryville had a pair of baskets and one free throw.
The Hornets went 17-for-22 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter to come away with the win.
Eli Mollet led the Tigers with seven points and Zane Elliot had six.
Walker topped the Hornets’ scoring with 15, 11 of which came in the first quarter.
Hornets seniors Tyler Luedeman, Mollett, Andrew Jackson, Micah Mains and Codi McDonald were honored prior to the game.
Kilgore said that each of the seniors have meant a lot to the program, and to him as he’s in his fourth year of coaching.
Tomorrow, the Hornets (3-18, 1-4 SAC) will travel to Medora.
“The kids had intensity,” Kilgore said of the Henryville game. “I told the kids you can match up with a talented team with effort. Sometimes, the effort can match up with the talent. This time of the year, it doesn’t matter your record. The tournament is a three-game shot for anyone. This type of score (against Henryville) is a sectional paced game.”