Worth County’s boys held off the high-octane St. Joseph Christian Lions Friday to clinch the GRC West title outright 65-61. Tyler New had 24, Bo Collins had one of his best nights as a Tiger with 12, and Caleb New missed a ton of shots but also knocked some down and also had 12.
Things started off well for the Tigers as Tyler New scored
five straight to start the game off. But Christian, under Neal Hook, runs a
swarming, pressing defense and tries to take as many 3-pointers as possible and
go to the rim to set up their shooters. They struck right back with four from
Nick Orscheln and three from Hayden Riley to regain the lead. From there, it
was the Lions constantly trying to speed up the game, running 10 players in and
out, and trying to wear the Tigers down. But Worth County ran right with them
and Tyler New would come through at the end to deliver the title. A win by the
Lions would have vaulted them and likely Princeton into a possible three way
tie with Worth County.
Cole Ruby hit a free throw, Tyler New got loose in
transition, and Bo Collins did as well to put the Tigers up 10-7. Orscheln
countered with a steal, but Bo Collins got loose in transition and the Tigers
were up 12-9 after one. A lot of the Tigers’ points that quarter were set up by
Bo Collins running the floor.
Johnston Stewart got two free throws to cut it to 12-11, but
then Karson Briner got a third chance putback and Bo Collins got a fourth
chance putback to make it 16-11. Worth County was going to the offensive glass
hard the whole game, getting 33 boards to show for their efforts, one of their
higher totals this year. The Lions kept pushing the pace, but could never quite
catch the Tigers, who led by as much as 30-24 at one point before Vail
Fruechting’s three point play cut the Lions’ deficit to 30-27 at the half.
Cy Carlson got the hot hand early for Christian in the third
quarter, tying it with a three point play to start the period. Karson Briner
hit two free throws and Cannon Fletcher hit a 3-pointer to put the Tigers back
up 35-30, but then Carlson scored five straight to knot it back up again at 35.
Caleb New, after missing a ton in the first half, finally got untracked twice,
Cole Ruby hit a tough shot from the wing, and Bo Collins scored two as the
Tigers went up 47-41, but Carlson cut inside and hit a 3-point play to spark
the Lions late in the third. Peyton Hausman followed with another drive, as did
Fruechting to put the Lions ahead 48-47 after three.
It looked like the Lions might take control at the start of
the fourth after Levi Miller hit a 3-pointer to start the period, but Cannon
Fletcher answered with one of his own to hit a career high with six and keep
the Tigers in it down 51-50. Nick Orscheln drove and scored after the Lions
kept a possession alive with an offensive board, but Bo Collins scored from
inside and Tyler New hit from the baseline to put the Tigers back in front
54-53.
Caleb New and Tyler New both hit 3-pointers during the next
stretch to put the Tigers up 60-55, but then Johnston Stewart carried the Lions
on his shoulders, scoring five straight to knot it up at 60 again with 1:58
left. Bo Collins missed a shot for the Tigers, but Cy Carlson dribbled one off
his foot to give the ball back to the Tigers with 1:20 left.
After a long possession, Hayden Sanders missed a 3-pointer,
but Tyler New was there with the putback with 45 seconds left to put the Tigers
back in front 62-60. Hayden Riley drew a foul, hit the first free throw with 35
seconds to make it 62-61, but missed the second and Tyler New came away with it
after a scramble.
The Lions played for a turnover, but Worth County was strong
with the ball for the next 16 seconds and the Lions started fouling with 19
seconds and got their fourth foul. Worth County took another 6 seconds off
before the Lions put Tyler New on the line. He missed the first free throw but
hit the second to make it 63-61.
Christian brought the ball up the floor and took a timeout
with 9 seconds left. Worth County had two fouls to give and used them to force
the Lions to take time off the clock, getting the time down to two seconds. The
Lions inbounded on the baseline and got it into Cy Carlson, but he missed a
highly contested shot and Tyler grabbed the rebound.
Most of the time, the officials make calls that please half
the crowd, but this time, they wound up making a call that pleased nobody as
the Lions wanted a foul called on Worth County on Carlson’s shot and the Tigers
thought the foul after New’s rebound happened after time expired. The video
showed that Johnston Stewart’s foul on Tyler New happened with 0.2 seconds. The
officials put 0.3 seconds on the clock, which was only one hundredth of a second
off. The Lions coach, Neal Hook, drew a technical foul for pressing his case too
much, and Tyler New made two out of four free throws to preserve the Tiger win.
For Worth County, Tyler New had 24, Caleb New and Bo Collins
12 each, Cole Ruby 7, Cannon Fletcher 6, and Karson Briner 4. Worth County shot
23 for 51 from the field for 45%. They were 9 for 18 from the line. Caleb New
had 4 threes, while Tyler New had 3, Cannon Fletcher 2, and Cole Ruby 1.
Tyler New and Karson Briner had 9 rebounds. Bo Collins had
8, Cole Ruby 3, and Cannon Fletcher and Caleb New 2 each.
Tyler New had 6 assists. Bo Collins had 5, Hayden Sanders
and Caleb New 2 each, and Karson Briner 1.
Karson Briner had 2 blocks.
Hayden Sanders had 2 steals. Tyler New, Caleb New, and
Karson Briner had 1.
Most importantly, Worth County only had 10 turnovers against
the relentless Lion pressure.
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