Tigers advance to play in Class 4 District 13 Championship against Barstow High School

Back in December, the Nevada Tigers picked up their first win in their sixth game of the year against a school in Arkansas. Nearly three months later, the Tigers are 14-13 on the year, ranked number 1 in Class 4 District 13, and are headed to the big dance - the district championship, after defeating the Clinton Cardinals 51-36. While most Tiger fans wrote off Nevada having a winning season, Coach Gray sees things differently.

“I don't know if I call it a rough season,” stated Gray. “This group has continued to get better throughout the year and progress.It does feel good to see all that hard work pay off. We did have a rough start to the season and didn't start the season the way we wanted to, but these guys stayed the course. They kept their nose to the grindstone, continue to believe in one another, and believe in the process.”

The Tigers picked up their 14th win of the year after knocking off the Clinton Cardinals, who the Tigers beat back in early January with a score of 63-32. Nevada dominated all night, leading every quarter in double digits. No. 4 Cade Beshore went home as the top scorer for the Tigers after scoring 15 points by himself.

But while the win was great, it’s what happened during the game that had Nevada worried. No. 3 Drew Beachler went rebounding for a ball in the fourth quarter, before landing on his ankle wrong, causing him to sit out for the rest of the game. No word has been said on Beachler’s condition and if he will be able to compete in tonight's match up, but Coach Gray feels like they will be just fine, even if he has to sit out.

“We feel like we have a chance regardless of who we play on the floor because of how hard our guys play. We're gonna have to earn it on Friday night. Drew (Beachler) is tough as nails, so I think if there's any percentage chance that he can go, he's going to go play. He's going to get out there and give us all he's got.

This will be the sixth time the Tigers will compete in the district championships ever since Gray was hired on as the head coach in 2014, but only have continued on with their season once after the championship game (2020-21 season). Coach Gray told Nevada Daily Mail that they got here because of the hard work this year’s team has put in.

“This group of young men there are a very together group. I think that term together describes them really well. They don't care who gets the credit, they don't care who scores the points on any given night. What makes them special is how hard they play and the fact that they play together for one another. When you have that, you can get by with not having any next level collegiate players or All-State guys. If you've got five guys on the floor at once that play really hard and they care more about the team then they care about themselves, that can be a special thing. That's really what makes them such a joy to coach.

The Tigers do plan on leaving everything on the court tonight, as they will take the battle at 7 p.m. against Barstow High School, who knocked them out of the district tournament last season. Talking about the upcoming game, Gray had this to say. “Barstows is a very balanced ball club. They've got six or seven different guys that can score the ball. They just really wanna make things tough on you. They force their opponents to back cut and to cut hard. They're trying to dare you to drive around them. They're gonna they're just trying to bank on the fact that they're a little stronger and a little quicker on the perimeter, and that over four quarters, that will wear on you. I think people are going to see a really good athletic ball club that will make us play our best basketball for four quarters if we're going to come away with a win.”