Freshman Tigers lose final two games to Vallivue and Rocky Mountain

The freshman basketball team played its final two games against the "5A" teams this past week.

Although they lost both games, the frosh were able to show that they could play with the big schools, Coach Brian English said with pride.

On Monday, Feb. 2, the young Tigers took on the Rocky Mountain Grizzles.

The Grizzles jumped out to an early 10-2 lead but Luke Filipovich poured in eight points to keep the Tigers close and at the end of the first period the score was 14-12 in favor of the Griz.

In the second quarter the young Tigers went on a 19-3 run to take a 31-17 halftime lead.

The young Tigers struggled to maintain the lead and led 37-29 at the end of the third quarter. The Tigers withstood a hard charge by the Grizzles in the fourth quarter but late turnovers doomed the Mountain Home team as it fell 48-45.

Luke Filipovich led the Tigers with 11 points and also led the team with eight rebounds. Jake Hennessey had ten points, Alex Rodriquez had nine points, Jared Day had eight points, Tony McKenzie had four points and Derek Doerr had three points.

On Thursday, Feb. 5, the team traveled to Vallivue for its last game against a 5A opponent.

It was a game of quarters.

In the first quarter the Falcons jumped out to a 17-5 lead. In the second quarter the Tigers outscored the Falcons but trailed at the half 25-17.

In the third quarter the Falcons again outscored the Tigers 7-3 to take a 32-20 lead into the fourth quarter.

But the Tigers outscored the Falcons 18-8 in the fourth and behind Jake Hennessey's three-point goal they were within two points with a minute to play.

The Tigers did what they had to do, foul and put the Falcons on the line. But after getting the ball back the turnover demon jumped up again and the Tigers lost 40-38.

Alex Rodriquez led the team with ten points. Jared Day had seven points and Luke Filipovich had six points. Filipovich also led the team with six rebounds. Jake Hennessey and Tony McKenzie each scored five points, Garrett Burton and Chaise Hopkins each had two points and Tyler Knauth rounded out the scoring with one point.

"The boys at times put together some good basketball," said English.

"We still turn the ball over too much and sometimes don't think as much as we should on the court, but they are still learning. A lot of my players have never been in a situation when the game is on the line and they are on the floor so it's been a learning experience.

"We have improved greatly since the start of the year and that's what counts," he said.

The boys host Bishop Kelly on Monday and travel to Columbia on Thursday. The team currently has a 3-13 overall record and is 1-7 in conference play.

* * *

In the previous week's action the ninth-grade boy's basketball team fell to two more 5A teams as they lost to Meridian and Mountain View.

On Jan. 26 the boy's hosted the Warriors from Meridian.

It was a tight game all game long. In the first quarter the Warriors jumped out to a 12 -6 lead behind the shooting of Brady Clark and Issac Sienknecht.

Jake Hennessey and Luke Filipovich got the Tigers going in the second quarter and the Tigers went into the half trailing 23-21. In the second half the Warriors' Greg Slattery went off for 10 points in the third quarter but Tony McKenzie and Jared Day helped the Tigers stay close and at the end of the third quarter the Warriors led 39-35. In the fourth quarter the Warriors outscored the Tigers 17-8 to pull out the 56-43 victory.

Jared Day led the Tigers with 12 points; Alex Rodriquez had eight points and led the team with 11 rebounds. Jake Hennessey had six points, Luke Filipovich had five points, Tyler Knauth had three points, and Chaise Hopkins rounded out the scoring, putting in two points.

On Jan. 29 the boys traveled to Mountain View to take on the Mavericks. Again, the team started out well as they ran with the bigger Mavericks and trailed 12-9 after the first quarter.

The second quarter doomed the young Tigers as they were outscored 21-12. The Mavericks held a 33-21 halftime lead. In the second half the Tigers played the Mavericks tough but the hole they dug in the second quarter was too steep to climb out as the Tigers lost 59-41.

Leading scorer for the Tigers was Jared Day with 16 points. Jake Hennessey had nine points, Chaise Hopkins had eight points, Luke Filipovich had three points, Derek Doerr and Tyler Knauth each had two points and Garrett Burton finished the scoring with one point.

Although he didn't score, Alex Rodriquez led the team with 11 rebounds.

"In both games I think we did some good things," said head coach Brian English. "Of course we would like to win every game, but the boys played hard in both games and played to the end. They gave me all they had, so I can't complain."