CFX scored the first 13 points of the game against Worth County and held on to win 50-42 in semifinal action Wednesday night at the Northwest Missouri Basketball Tournament. After the bad first quarter, the Tigers fell even farther behind at the start of the second before finally settling down and playing ball with the Hornets. Take away the first 11 minuts of the game and the Tigers win. But, as Coach Chris Healy said, "there are 32 minutes in a game for a reason."
The Tigers struggled against the press, forcing passes and letting CFX guard Jacob Beck run wild in the first 11 minutes. "That was the first real press we have seen all year," explained Coach Healy. Beck scored the first nine points of the game, getting four free throws, a fast break bucket, and a 3-pointer from the left wing. Kevin Dodson added a putback after nobody got back on defense after a fast break, and then nobody helped out on a backdoor cut by Spencer Barnes, which made it 12-0.
Worth County finally got on the board, although the refs were not making it easy for them during that stretch. Dylan Kinsella scored from the high post to break the shutout and Zach Harmening hit a 3-pointer from the right wing. Todd Harding followed with a steal to make it 13-7. But then the refs lent a helpful hand as an official completely out of position made a phantom foul call that gave Jordan Sipes a free throw to make it 14-7. Worth County had the final possession in the period, but the officials let the CFX players bump the Tiger shooters with their bodies twice and didn't blow the whistle.
But the officials did not make the Tigers play through the lapse at the start of the second quarter in which they let Nathan Hinrichs get all alone for a wide open layup in transition to start another CFX run. Panic set in as Beck scored the next eight points, three of them on steals to make it 24-9 at the 5:25 mark of the second quarter. At that point, Beck had scored 17 of CFX's 24 points in the game. Finally, the Tigers settled down as CFX went through the next five minutes without a field goal. J.J. Mullock got a free throw after an offensive board and Cole Buffington got a steal and drive to make it 24-12. Spencer Barnes hit a free throw, but Zach Harmening hit a 3-pointer from the left wing to make it 25-15 with 40 seconds left. Garrett Hinrichs answered with a shot from the right wing for CFX to make it 27-15 and then the officials lent another helping hand to CFX as Dylan Kinsella's last-second shot should have sent him to the line for two shots. But the refs didn't see the CFX defender pushing him with his lower hand and causing him to miss his shot and CFX went into the break up 27-15.
Alex Harmening got a drive and then added a 3rd-chance putback as Worth County cut the lead to under double digits to start the second half. But CFX answered with a 7-0 run as Worth County reverted to their first-quarter form of forcing passes that weren't there; Beck started the run with a 3-point play and then they attacked the basket as Jordan Showalter, quiet all night, scored on a pair of drives to make it 34-18 as the defensive help was nonexistent. The Hornet press was working the way it was designed to as the Tigers were in hurry-up mode when they should have been patient against the zone. But then Worth County settled down and fought back again as Dylan Kinsella beat the press for a layup and then scored from inside to cut it back to 34-22. Showalter hit a free throw and then Beck added a steal to push it back to 15, but Zach Harmening hit a pair of free throws after a fast break with 7 seconds left to make it 37-24 going into the fourth quarter.
Spencer Barnes got a putback to start the fourth quarter, but Eli Mullock hit a free throw, Alex Harmening hit from the left baseline against the press, and Eli Mullock got a steal to make it 39-29. Barnes converted a 3-point play, but then Mullock pushed it right back down the floor against the press and made a basket to make it 42-31. Once the Tigers finally started breaking the press and scoring against it, that seemed to shake the Hornets' self-confidence as they live and die by the press. Todd Harding followed with a 3-pointer and Zach Harmening scored from inside to make it 42-36. But following a CFX turnover, the Tigers hesitated too long before throwing it in during an out of bounds situation and Beck got a steal and a wide open layup; two free throws each by Beck and Showalter made it 48-36 with 1:10 left. Dylan Kinsella got a putback with 36 seconds left and Garrett Hawk got another one with 21 seconds left to make it 48-40, but Nathan Hinrichs hit a pair of free throws with 18 seconds left to make it 50-40. Todd Harding's free throws with 8 seconds left rounded out the scoring.
"I was proud of how we came back in the second half," said Coach Chris Healy. "It took us a while to adjust, but we finally broke their pressure and got some layups. If we can compete with them, we can compete with a lot of teams this year."
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