CAMPBELLSBURG
Despite taking a 54-51 loss to West Washington, Crothersville’s boys basketball team feels confident when thinking ahead to the sectional field.
A 21-point fourth quarter outburst gave the Tigers a chance at a major road comeback, but the visitors ran out of time Friday.
The teams kept the score within four points until Zane Elliott went 3-for-4 from the free throw line to bring the Tigers (12-5) within one at 6-5 with 5:17 on the clock in the first quarter.
The Senators (8-11) then answered with a 3-pointer by Kamden Zink and basket by Harrison Sanford to go up 11-5.
In the final 2:29 of the quarter the Tigers went on a 5-2 run, but trailed 13-10 at the end of eight minutes of play.
The Tigers opened the second quarter with a 6-2 run, capped by a putback by Dylan Wilson, to take their first lead at 16-15 with 5:50 left in the half.
The teams exchanged scoring down the stretch, with the Tigers hanging on to the lead at 26-25. Logan Brewer led the Tigers with eight points in the first half.
The Tiger’s offense sputtered out of intermission, scoring just four points in the third quarter.
The Senators took advantage by going on two mini 4-0 runs before scoring six unanswered in the final 2:29 of the third quarter to lead 39-30.
Needing energy, the Tigers applied a heavier press in the final eight minutes.
That defensive pressure resulted in seven Senators turnovers.
The Tigers chipped away at the lead until a lay up by Brewer and inbounds steal-and-score by Hoskins cut the Senators’ lead to 44-43 with 3:29 left.
Free throws by Brewer put the Tigers up 45-44 with 3:05 left, but the Senators answered with four straight points.
Brewer again nailed a pair of freebies before Hoskins scored at the rim to bring the score to 52-51 with 10.7 seconds on the clock.
Zink hit a pair of free throws to put the Senators up three with 9.6 ticks.
Brewer hoisted a 3-pointer as time expired, but it was partially blocked by the Senators.
“When we got down 39-30, we knew it would be tough to come back with the pace that the game was going,” Tigers coach Greg Kilgore said. “I knew the kids were good enough to (come back), I just didn’t know if we would have enough time to make the run that we did. We did and took the lead twice. We missed some box outs and the ball didn’t bounce our way a couple times. The biggest key was not winning the rebounding. It’s hard to get outrebounded and win on the road anywhere.”
Brewer led the Tigers with 23 points and Hoskins scored 10.
Parker Green topped the Senators with 12 points while Nick Marrs had 10 and Holden Bowsman chipped in 11.
West Washington had its chance to go up big at the free throw line, but shot just 19 of 30 to the Tigers’ 14 of 18 attempts.
The Senators won the rebounding battle 21-18, but the Tigers took the turnover margin 16-18.
In the regular season, the Tigers finished 3-2 against Sectional 62 opponents with wins over Medora, Shawe Memorial and Trinity Lutheran. Outside of the loss to the Senators, the Tigers fell to Edinburgh by one point.
“You have to be happy with the way the boys battled back,” Kilgore said. “They could have easily folded and lost by 16-, 17-, 18-points. If that happens, it’s tough to convince them that we can beat West Washington in the sectional in three weeks. The way we came back, at Edinburgh and West Washington, we had the ball both games and had a chance to tie at the end. I think (we) have the confidence to beat those two teams. We’ve proven we can play with both of them on the road, and we beat Trinity Lutheran on the road.
“In my opinion, I think we’re the favorites in the sectional. I think everyone knows it now because we’ve battled on the road so well with these teams.”
Crothersville will host Bloomington Lighthouse tonight.