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Class 1 boys' tournament begins
The opening night of the boys' bracket in the Class 1, District 7 tournament at Hume High School began in front of a nearly packed house Tuesday night.
In the first game of the night, the Bronaugh Wildcats set out in an attempt to avoid a winless season against the top-seeded Lockwood Tigers. The Tigers came into the game as an obvious favorite and seemed to have Bronaugh outclassed in nearly every aspect of the game on their way to a 53-21 victory.
The Wildcats struggled right from the start of the contest and their offense was able to come up with just eight field goal attempts in the opening frame. Complicating matters for Bronaugh was that they added eight turnovers in the period, allowing Lockwood to take an early 10-5 lead.
The Wildcat offense was able to improve dramatically in the second period as they finally began to find a rhythm and make shots. Lockwood was able to match that improvement, however, and went on to outscore Bronaugh 24-9 in the second quarter to take a 34-14 lead into the locker room at the break.
Lockwood senior Elijah Lasater took control of the game in the first half for the Tigers, outscoring Bronaugh on his own as he put up 15 points to lead all scorers. No other players for either side were able to reach double figures, but Lockwood junior Blake Abbiatti wasn't far from it as he put up eight.
The second half didn't get any better for the Wildcats as their poor shooting continued to be a major course of issue. The Wildcats put up just two points in the third period, allowing Lockwood to extend their lead even more, taking a 51-16 lead into game's final eight minutes.
The running clock kept the scoring to a minimum for both sides and Bronaugh was able to make a slight dent in the Lockwood lead, but the 35-point hole they had dug for themselves proved to be too much to overcome as the Tigers took the game by a final score of 53-21.
Lasater led the effort in the game for Lockwood as he finished out the night with a game-high 20 points. For Bronaugh, Chris Stone set the mark with seven points.
With that loss, the Wildcats finish out the season winless while the Tigers move on to the tournament semifinals tomorrow.
In the second game of the night, the fourth-seeded Thomas Jefferson Day School Cavaliers and the fifth-seeded Golden City Eagles squared off in what many thought would be a close contest. That was not to be, however, as Thomas Jefferson rolled their way to a 48-29 win.
The Thomas Jefferson offense wasted little time getting started in the contest as they put up 15 first quarter points. Solid defensive play allowed the Cavs to hold Golden City to just eight in the period, taking a 15-8 lead into the second quarter.
That strong defensive play continued for both sides throughout the remainder of the half and Golden City was able to cut into the deficit by winning the second quarter 11-10. The Cavs still held the lead, however, heading into the locker room up by a score of 25-19.
Thomas Jefferson's Taylor Barton looked to be the break-out player for the Cavs as he finished the half with 12 points to lead all scorers. For Golden City, Cody Triplett led the effort with six.
The Cavs took full advantage of their period of rest between the halves and came out of the locker room with an obvious boost in intensity. Golden City was unable to match that level of play throughout the third quarter and saw the game start to slip away as they were outscored 14-2 to take a 39-22 deficit into the fourth.
Neither team seemed to have a marked advantage in the closing minutes of the game as the defenses began to take over. The game stayed even throughout the fourth quarter, allowing Thomas Jefferson to take a 48-29 victory.
Thomas Jefferson freshman Alex Oserowsky set the pace with a very strong offensive night, finishing the contest with 19 points to lead all scorers. Barton didn't finish far behind as he was able to put up 16 in the contest.
With that victory, Thomas Jefferson moves on to face Lockwood in the semifinals tonight, while Golden City's season comes to an end.