HENRYVILLE

Crothersville’s boys basketball team experienced highs and lows in their first holiday tournament of the week.

The Tigers opened with a solid win against Kentucky’s Assumption Academy before getting blown out by Henryville, the hosts of the McKee Munk Invitational on Tuesday.

Tigers play error-free ball in win

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In game one, the Tigers (3-6) minimized their errors to take down Assumption Academy of Kentucky 55-47.

Crothersville finished with just four turnovers in the game.

“Four turnovers is excellent,” Tigers coach Kilgore said. “Our turnovers are getting better each game, we’ve averaged six over the past five games.”

In the first quarter, the Tigers trailed up until Josh Thomas drilled a 3-pointer with 1:23 on the clock to tie the game at 13-13.

With 12 ticks left, Lane Wienhorst got a basket to give the Tigers the lead.

The Tigers wouldn’t trail the rest of the way.

Thomas got hot from the field in the second quarter, accounting for 10 of the Tigers’ 14 points.

At the half, the Tigers led 29-28.

Out of intermission, the Tigers went on an 11-3 run behind seven points from Thomas.

Assumption ended the third quarter on a 7-0 scoring string, but trailed the Tigers 42-41.

The Tigers answered to start the fourth by outscoring the Horsemen 8-2 by the 2:42-mark.

In the final two minutes, the Tigers hit five of six free throws to seal the game.

Thomas led the Tigers with 26 points and 10 rebounds and Wienhorst scored 10 points.

Gerard Kunkel led the Horsemen with 18 points.

“The ball movement was good,” Kilgore said. “(Zane) Elliott had seven assists and one turnover. He also made some free throws which made us feel pretty good. That’s what you need from your point guard.”

Kilgore said he was proud of how the underclassmen stepped up in the game.

The Tigers were missing four players due to illness or injury.

“We played three junior varsity kids quite a bit,” Kilgore said. “I threw them in the fire today. (Cory) Schmelzle, (Jacob) James and (Josh) West had no varsity experience. Schmelze might have taken some questionable shots, but he did an excellent job of guarding Gerard Kunkel (who scored 10 in the first half) in the second half.”

Hornets too much for Tigers

A slow start plagued the Tigers in the final later that evening, as they fell to Henryville 82-36.

In the first quarter, the Hornets defense held the Tigers to five points.

The Hornets went on a 10-0 run to start the game behind four points from Nick Walker.

A basket by Thomas momentarily halted the run before the Hornets scored another 10 straight points.

Elliott hit 3-pointer before the end of the quarter, but the Tigers trailed 20-5.

Walker scored 19 of the 20 Hornets points in the opening eight minutes.

Conner O’Sullivan accounted for five of the Tigers’ seven points in the second quarter.

The Hornets continued to hold the Tigers at bay, amounting a 7-0 and 8-0 scoring streaks before halftime.

At intermission, the Tigers trailed 38-12. The Hornets had outrebounded them 18-9 and were winning the turnover battle 11-3.

Following a trey by Thomas, the Hornets blew the lead open with 10 straight points to lead 48-15 with 2:48 on the clock.

Thomas proved the only offense for the Tigers in the quarter, scoring all 10 of the team’s points as they trailed 57-22 after 24 minutes.

The Hornets cruised to the win as they outscored the Tigers 25-10 in the fourth quarter.

Thomas led the Tigers with 18 points and Walker topped the Hornets with 21.

On the boards, the Hornets won the rebounding total 29-14.

Walker was the player of the tournament and Thomas made the all-tournament team.

The Tigers finished as runners-up in the competition, and will travel to the Scott County Tournament on Thursday and Friday. CHS will open against Scottsburg.