Tigers compete in St. Rose tourney
Tigers compete in the St. Rose tourney
CROFTON—The Osmond Tigers junior high girls basketball team showed marked improvement through their play at the St. Rose of Lima School Junior High Basketball tournament on Saturday, January 26.
Though the tigers were defeated by Wynot (16-11) and Hartington-Newcastle (20-18), they played their best team basketball of the season to this point.
“Overall, we had a good day. Yes, it would have been nice to win one of the games, but we are growing as a team and as basketball players, which is extremely rewarding,” Tiger Head Coach Scott Morrison said.
The Tigers competed well in their tournament opener against Wynot. The Tigers played with the Lady Blue Devils throughout the game.
There were definitely some positive signs. Overall, the team played well defensively. They gave up very few uncontested buckets; they worked hard for rebounds, and communicated well with each other for most of the game.
With the ball in their hands, the Tigers did well handling the press at times. Offensively, the Tigers did a nice job setting screens for the ball-handler to give her space and open up some nice passes.
From a scoring standpoint, all three eighth graders (Leah Buchanan, Cali Gutz, and Reese Johns) all had at least two points.
Cali led the charge with six points. She hit both of her free-throw attempts. Leia hit a big shot down the stretch. Reese had a nice offensive rebound and then put it back for two.
“It’s always nice to have our eighth graders step up,” Morrison said. “They are our leaders and the girls that everyone looks to.”
Anabelle Vinson hit a free-throw in the game as well.
After finishing with the Wynot game, the Tigers moved on to play Hartington-Newcastle in a rematch of the first game of the Tigers’ season (a 23-7 win for Hartington-Newcastle).
This time the Tigers played much better and showed just how much better they’ve gotten.
“As much as anything, I am proud of our girls for not only making adjustments from the first time we played this team but also for making adjustments from the first game of the tournament to the second.”
The game was tied at 10-10 at the end of the first half. The Wildcats held a 16-14 lead going into the fourth.
In the fourth, the score was tied at 18-18 until the Wildcats scored with five seconds left in the game.
The Tigers called a timeout and tried to run a play. Cali Gutz got a shot off, but the ball was off the mark and time expired.
“Ultimately, our girls battled their butts off, and I failed to give them much of a chance to get that last shot off,” Morrison said.
The Tigers did a great job defensively. The allowed only three points to a girl they allowed thirteen points two in the first game.
Defensively, the Tigers did a pretty nice job of contesting each shot, though their rebounding was lackluster at times, which led to some easy HN points.
Offensively, the Tigers had their best offensive output of the season. Five girls combined for all of the Tigers points.
Tessa Gardner scored eight points, while Buchanan and Gutz each scored four points. Johns and Vinson each scored two points.
Anna Kahny has a beautiful attempt at a layup after getting a steal at half-court and heading towards the hoop from the left side.
Caydence Krienert filled a lot of different roles throughout the game. It was fun to see her work on the rebounds, especially in the Wynot game.
Callie Hoffman made a nice adjustment in game. It was good to see her compete as well as she did after being sick for most of the game.
Juliana Kumm played well throughout the game. She had a really aggressive tie-up in the Hartington-Newcastle game.
The Tigers move on to play Plainview on Monday, January 28 after the boys game.
GAME 1 |
1st |
2nd |
3rd |
4th |
F |
OSMOND |
1 |
2 |
4 |
4 |
11 |
WYNOT |
1 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
16 |
GAME 2 |
1st |
2nd |
3rd |
4th |
F |
OSMOND |
6 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
18 |
H-N |
2 |
8 |
6 |
4 |
20 |