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Tigers prevail over St. Louis Christian, 53-46
JOPLIN — Bouncing back nicely from Thursday’s 23-point defeat in the opening-round of the Kaminsky hoops Classic, the Nevada Tigers toppled St. Louis Christian Academy, 53-46 in a Friday afternoon consolation bracket contest.
The victory advances Nevada (5-5) to the consolation finals (fifth-place game), and a matchup with Jefferson City High School, slated for 12:30 p.m. today.
St. Louis Christian Academy entered the contest with the majority of its varsity roster competing at a tournament in Paducah, Kentucky.
The Tigers were unable to take full advantage of SLCA’s depleted roster, trailing 14-13 entering the second, and 31-27 at the break.
‘We played very poor in the first half,” said Nevada head coach Shaun Gray.
Gray indicated that his club may have been over-confident after having watched Webb City bulldoze SLCA in opening-round action Thursday evening.
“I think we came out and took some things for granted,” said the fifth-year head coach. “The boys saw them play the night before, and watched Webb City control the game from the get-go against them. So I think they kind of had the mentality that we can just go through the motions and be OK.”
Even with most of its varsity roster away in the Bluegrass State, SLCA still boasted plenty of size along its front line.
“They had a little length” said Gray. “Their front-line was 6-foot-10, 6-5, and 6-4. They zoned us with their length, and it bothered us in the first half. At halftime, we kind of woke up a little bit, and really picked up the energy and intensity in the second half.”
The increased level of energy resulted in the Tigers outscoring SLCA 14-8 in the third, and 12-7 in the fourth, as Nevada gradually pulled away for the seven-point victory.
“I was really pleased with the response out of halftime — holding them to 15 points in the second half,” said Gray. “We picked up the defensive intensity and energ,y and that led to some transition buckets. Obviously, we would have like to have played the entire game that way.”
Added Gray: “It was definitely not (SCLA’s) full squad, but they still had a lot length and athleticism out there. Their zone (defense) made it tough on us. It was a game, that if we played well, we knew we should win. And unfortunately, we didn’t play the way we were capable of the first two quarters.
Gray said he was pleased with his squad’s long-range shooting, as the Tigers concluded 8-of-16 from three-point land.
“We finally started getting better looks against their zone, getting some open shots and knocking them down,” recounted Gray, which included third quarter triples from sophomore guards Logan Applegate and Lane McNeley.
In addition to their 50 percent clip from beyond the arc, Nevada also knocked down 9-of-12 from the charity stripe (75 percent).
“We’d like to get to the line more than 12 times probably, but it’s a good thing any time that you can make that percentage,” summed up Gray.
Applegate dropped in a team-high 13 points for Nevada. Nevada forward Matt Thompson, meanwhile chipped in 10 points, while Lane and Logan McNeley finished with eighth apiece in the winning effort.