Could the end of the regular season be a sign of things to come for the Crothersville boys basketball team?
In its final two games of the season — both at home in front a packed house of Tiger faithful — Crothersville ended skids against both Southern Athletic Conference foe Henryville and maybe more importantly area rival Austin.
Prior to the Tigers’ convincing 10-point win over the Hornets on Feb. 22, you had to go back to Feb. 15, 2014, for the last time the Tigers topped Henryville. They actually beat them twice that season.
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You’d have to go back even further to find the last time Crothersville grounded the Eagles, running them out of town by 23 points on Feb. 24, 2012.
Maybe the end of these two droughts against two rivals is signaling that the stars are aligning for the Tigers to claim their first boys basketball sectional title.
Even though the overall record isn’t as good as years past, Crothersville coach Greg Kilgore feels like this is a team that could string together a handful of wins and cut down the nets for the first time.
”I think we could go to Edinburgh and win the sectional this year,” Kilgore said earlier this season. “I think we’ve got that kind of resiliency to put some games together and win our first-ever sectional.”
Resiliency is certainly the keyword for this Tiger team.
Last Friday’s win was nothing short of trying. Though Crothersville led wire to wire, the game never really got comfortable for the home team.
Crothersville has been in its fair share of close games this season. Thirteen have been decided by 10 points or fewer, and the Tigers have been victorious in seven of those.
Three of their last four games were decided by 10 points or fewer with the Tigers eking out close a game against Eastern (Pekin) in addition to ones against the Hornets and Eagles.
But before those three close wins, the Tigers dropped three tight games, and each one was to sectional opponents.
The first came Jan. 31 in a double-overtime thriller to Trinity Lutheran. The next against a struggling Edinburgh team, who the Tigers will face Friday night and bounced them by a point earlier this year. Finally, the last close loss came against last year’s sectional winner — and presumed 2020 sectional favorite — West Washington by just four points.
All three of those losses came on the road.
Now is the time of year where being able to battle in close game becomes crucial, and the Tigers hope their toughness will help them get back to the sectional final for the second straight year.
Kilgore believes the way his players compete for each other can be the element that pushes them over the top. That and having several scoring threats.
“I think they’re very resilient, and they’ve got each other’s back,” Kilgore said of his players. “I think they’ve played through some adversity, and I think we’ve got six or seven guys that can put the ball in the hole at different times.”
The Tigers will take on Edinburgh at 6 p.m. Friday for a spot in the sectional final.