Tigers' comeback falls short against Eagles

AUSTIN — Of all the things that happen on a basketball floor, the one that most coaches hate the most is unforced turnovers.

Austin held a 38-32 lead on Crothersville entering the fourth quarter of their Christian Academy Tournament pool game on Tuesday night.

Crothersville’s Zach Elliott made a pair of free throws with 7:51 remaining to make it a 38-34 game, and when the Eagles missed a shot, the Tigers had a chance to get even closer, but turned the ball over on back-to-back possessions.

Crothersville trailed 46-40 following a basket by Ryan Gabbard with 5:10 remaining, but the Tigers’ shooting then went ice cold, resulting in an 11-0 run for the Eagles for a 57-40 lead with 3:45 remaining.

Elliott tried to bring the Tigers back, but it was too little, too late as the Eagles won 68-52 and will play tonight for the tournament championship.

“We made a great run at it and I felt like we forced them to take some shots they weren’t comfortable taking, and that is what allowed us to make the run,” Tigers coach Clint Waskom said. “We executed well on offense, and we cut it to four points. I felt like we had them on their heels where we could really make a run at it and take the lead, and then we had two turnovers in a row and they were unforced turnovers. It was really unfortunate for us to get ourselves in that situation.”

The Tigers had three turnovers in the fourth period.

“Those turnovers on the offensive end led to mental lapses on the defensive end where we lost a couple of their shooters back to where we were at the start of the game, and they got loose and made a few 3s, and boom, we go from down four to down 15 in a matter of a couple possessions because they stepped up and made the big plays when they needed to, and we quit executing,” Waskom said.

The Eagles made 10 3-point baskets to one for the Tigers. Austin made five 3-pointers in the fourth quarter when it outscored Crothersville 30-20.

Crothersville had trouble hitting the basket in the first quarter, shooting 2-for-14 from the floor, and fell behind 17-5.

Elliott, Chase Ackeret and Cameron Royalty scored four points apiece for the Tigers in the second quarter to help the visitors outscore the home team 17-15 to trail 32-22 at the half.

“We had these guys well-scouted,” Waskom said. “I had seen them play and knew their game plan. These kids have played against each other since grade school, so everyone pretty much knows what each other is going to do, and of course it’s a big rivalry.
“In the second half, we got a little bit buried where we let their shooters get loose and make a couple shots. The (Ben) Raichel kid is a tough assignment, the (Travis) Pate kid can shoot, you can’t give him any room to breathe, and (Torrey) Winchester is a tough kid to stay in front of.
“I could say something positive about all five of their starters and give them a lot of credit, but then I felt like we made the adjustments that we needed to make at halftime.”

Crothersville shot 8-for-30 and Austin 12-for-22 from the floor in the first half.

The Tigers shot 4-for-8 in the third, while the Eagles cooled off to 2-for-13.

“The kids came out in that third quarter and I felt like we executed the game beautifully, and I wish we would have had that from the start,” Waskom said.

Elliott topped the Tigers with 20 points, while Royalty and Corey Lewis added eight each. Mathew Lucas topped the Tigers in rebounds with eight.

Winchester and Raichel each scored 22 and Pate 10.

“One of the things I’ve been talking to the kids about is their intensity and their effort,” Waskom said. “I love the kids to death, and I love the heart, the energy and the positive attitude they bring. It’s just the fact of wanting to get better, but I feel like in these game situations, some of our inexperience really shows through at crucial points in the ballgame.
“What we’ve really struggled with the early part of the season is the inconsistency. We outplay teams two, three or three and one half quarters, but then we have those mental lapses at specific parts of the game that are crucial and end up breaking our back, so to speak. Once we get both physically and mentally to where we can put that together for 32 minutes, I feel this team is going to be a very hard team to beat.”

The Tigers (1-9) will play Christian Academy at 3 p.m. today on the Warriors’ floor in the battle for fifth place.

Box score

Christian Academy Tournament pool game
Crothersville 5   17 10 20—52
Austin           17 15 6   30—68
Crothersville (1-9): Zach Elliott 8-12 3-4 20, Cameron Royalty 3-11 2-2 8, Mathew Lucas 2-7 0-2 4, Anthony Martin 0-5 0-0 0, Richie Whipple 0-0 0-0 0, Chase Ackeret 2-6 1-2 5, Ryan Gabbard 3-12 1-1 7, Corey Lewis 3-5 2-4 8, Chris Walker 0-0 0-0 0, totals 21-58 9-15 52
Austin (5-2): Ben Raichel 6-10 5-7 22, Travis Pate 4-5 0-0 10, Torrey Winchester 8-14 5-6 22, Zach Edwards 1-7 2-2 5, Brad Deaton 1-6 4-5 6, Andrew Clark 1-2 0-0 3, Ben Baker 0-0 0-0 0, Kameron Draper 0-0 0-0 0, totals 21-44 16-20 68
3-point goals: Crothersville (Elliott), Austin (Raichel 5, Pate 2, Winchester, Edwards, Clark)
Rebounds: Crothersville 28 (Lucas 8, Lewis 6), Austin 30 (Deaton 8, Raichel 7)
Turnovers: Crothersville 13, Austin 15
Fouls: Crothersville 18 (fouled out: Lucas), Austin 15
Junior varsity
Crothersville 9   6 9   12—36
Austin           13 8 15 12—48
Crothersville (7-3): Logan Oakes 10, Bradley Gabbard 8, Joe Sawyer 7, Eric Prewitt 6, Jarrod Royalty 5

OTHER TOURNAMENT SCORE FROM TUESDAY:

Lanesville 65, Rock Creek Academy 37

WEDNESDAY GAMES: (All games being played at Christian Academy)

3 p.m. -- Crothersville vs. Christian Academy (fifth place)

5 p.m. -- New Washington vs. Rock Creek Academy (third place)

7 p.m. -- Austin vs. Lanesville (championship)