Monday, February 5, 2024

Tiger Boys Use Balanced Scoring, Lockdown Defense to Take Down Mound City 57-46

Worth County’s boys rode balanced scoring and lockdown second half defense to a 57-46 win over Mound City as they were able to avoid a letdown game following their clinching of the GRC West title Monday.

They started off hot as Worth County continued its efforts to get its post players more touches, and it paid off with Karson Briner getting four quick points and Caleb New the other three. That put the Tigers up 7-0 at the 5:14 mark. But then Mound City started making use of its size, with six players between 6’1 and 6’3”, and they started coming back. The game turned into a track meet similar to the St. Joseph Christian game and the purple shirts were flying to the glass and Creyton Roup chipped in with a 3-pointer. By the end of the first quarter, the Tiger lead was down to 19-15 as eight of Mound City’s 15 points came off offensive boards.

With Keaton Zembles playing lockdown defense on Tyler New and holding him below his average, Mount City rode hot shooting in the second quarter as Zembles hit two 3-pointers and Cole Gillenwater one as the Panthers took a 29-24 lead at one point. Ernie Peters added a steal. Someone else had to step up for Worth County, and it was Caleb New who kept them in the game, hitting three 3-pointers in a two minute span to get the Tigers back into the game as they fought back to tie it at 33 at the half.

Tyler New finally got untracked in the third quarter, scoring four straight to start the period. Meanwhile, Mound City couldn’t get the kind of open looks they got in the second quarter. Chauncey Brown hit a 3-pointer to draw Mound City to within 37-36, but then Caleb New answered with one of his own, Tyler New got loose in transition, and Ethan Lininger gave the Tigers some quality minutes, drawing a foul on a fast break and hitting two free throws to make it 44-36 before Creyton Roup hit a runner at the third quarter buzzer to make it 44-38.

Worth County got back to what was working in the first quarter to start the fourth as they started getting the ball into the post, this time to Bo Collins. First, he kicked one out to Hayden Sanders for three, and then posted up and scored six points as the Tiger lead grew to 53-40 with 2:56 left. Chauncey Brown countered for Mound City to cut it to 53-42, but then Mound City had to start fouling and Tyler New, Bo Collins, and Caleb New hit free throws down the stretch to secure the win.

Caleb New had 16, Tyler New 15, Bo Collins 10, Hayden Sanders 8, Karson Briner 4, and Cole Ruby and Ethan Lininger 2 each.

Bo Collins had 1 block.

Karson Briner had 10 boards. Tyler New had 9, Bo Collins 6, Hayden Sanders 4, Caleb New 2, and Ethan Lininger 1.

Tyler New had 8 assists. Bo Collins had 4, Karson Briner 3, and Caleb New and Hayden Sanders 2.

Caleb New had 3 tips, while Karson Briner and Hayden Sanders had 2. Caleb New had 1 steal.

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