JH Tigers girls second in "O" Club Tourney
Tigers second in O Club Tourney
The Osmond Tigers junior high girls basketball team had a busy Saturday. The Tigers competed in the annual Osmond “O” Club Tournament.
They finished the tournament in second place after defeating Wausa 28-19 and falling to Plainview 35-30.
“We had a fun tournament that had some ups and downs,” Coach Scott Morrison said. “I think that several our girls were disappointed we didn’t “win” the tournament, but they did a nice job overall and continue down the continual path of improvement.
The day began with the Tigers competing against the Wausa Vikings for the third time this season.
The Tigers built a nice 9-2 lead after the first quarter, but then gave up ten points in the second quarter. This put the Tigers only ahead only by one point (13-12) headed into the second half.
“We had a nice start to the game both defensively and offensively,” Morrison said. “But we let down a little in the second quarter.”
Grace Gansebom (8th) had a nice first half defensively and offensively. She scored five of the Tigers thirteen points. Macy Aschoff (8th) had four points, and Kiera Moes (8th) added two.
However, the Tigers rebounded nicely with an 11-4 quarter. This put them ahead 24-16 headed into the final quarter.
The Lady Vikings scored on only two baskets in the quarter. They hit three free-throws as well.
“It was nice to see our girls response to the flow of the game up to half time. They used the second half to stifle the Lady Vikings defensively,” Morrison said.
Aschoff and Riley Wagner (8th) did a great job in the third quarter. Aschoff scored six points and Wagner had five points.
Lillie Gansebom (8th), Cali Gutz (7th), and Leia Buchanan (7th) were efficient when coming into the game. Lillie played some important minutes and played pretty good defensively.
Kyah Gray (7th) and Reese Johns (7th) both played in the game.
“Overall, we performed well in our game against Wausa,” Morrison said. “This was our third time playing Wausa, and it was our best offensive output against them.”
The Tigers advanced in the tournament to play in the championship game against Plainview. Everyone had high hopes, but victory proved elusive.
“Overall, this was a fun game. Our girls played their hearts out and had fun. These are the kinds of games that help younger players learn about themselves and ultimately make them better for their high school experiences.”
Looking back, the Tigers had one of their best offensive outputs in a single half all year. They scored 22 points. (They’re season average up to this point was 27 points per game.)
The Tigers jumped out of the gate as the scored fourteen points in the first quarter. Kiera Moes had a great quarter shooting the ball. She scored all seven of her points in the first.
While the Tigers held the lead after the first quarter, the Lady Pirates made it clear that they would be there to battle the whole game as they scored nine.
The Tigers and Pirates locked up in the second quarter as both teams scored eight points.
Grace Gansebom scored three of her seven points in the quarter and six of her seven points in the half. Macy Aschoff scored three of her ten points in the quarter. She scored seven of her ten points in the first half.
Despite the nice offensive output in the first half, the Tigers had one of their most difficult stretches of their season defensively.
They gave up seventeen points in the half and were up just 22-16. The kept the Pirates within striking distance, and they took advantage of this in the third quarter with a 13-4 run.
Plainview’s Kenzie Mosel scored nine of her 12 points in the quarter. She took advantage of several fast break opportunities.
“This was a good learning experience for our girls. Mosel beat our defenders back two or three times in a row, and Plainview scored some easy baskets because of it,” Morrison said.
Headed into the fourth quarter down 30-26, the Tigers weren’t in bad shape. But, they did have some ground to cover.
The girls played good defense, allowing just five points, but they could only score four points of their own. They had some good looks, but the ball just didn’t go in the hoop as easily as it did in the first half.
“Despite not being able to erase their deficit, the girls did a much better job handling a situation like this,” Morrison said. “we did a much better job of playing with intensity and urgency in this type of situation than the last time we saw it.”
Wagner led Osmond scorer’s in the second half with four points. Aschoff had three, and Grace Gansebom scored a point.
Biley Schmit had two points in the game. Cali Gutz played well defensively. Lillie Gansebom did another nice job in key situations. She continues to improve.
Leia Buchanan and Reese Johns played a little throughout the game.
The Tigers will spend the next three Sundays competing in club tournaments where they will see different style of basketball and some tough competition.
This starts next week with the Wayne tournament. They play Wayne beginning at 11 AM at the Wayne High School gym.
GAME 1 |
1st |
2nd |
3rd |
4th |
Final |
OSMOND |
9 |
4 |
11 |
4 |
28 |
WAUSA |
2 |
10 |
4 |
3 |
19 |
GAME 2 |
1st |
2nd |
3rd |
4th |
Final |
OSMOND |
14 |
8 |
4 |
4 |
30 |
PLAINVIEW |
9 |
8 |
13 |
5 |
35 |