Lady Tigers falter late, fall to Providence Academy 56-53, Tiger boys advance to KANGI title game

Saturday, January 25, 2020

FRONTENAC, Kan. — After escaping the opening-round contest of the Kansas Army National Guard Invitational with a narrow 46-44 victory over William Chrisman on Wednesday the Nevada Lady Tigers were unable to duplicate the previous night's feat, falling in the semifinals to Providence (Ark.) Academy, 56-53.

With just over three minutes remaining in the semifinal clash a Calli Beshore triple, followed by Lindley Ferry's mid-range jumper, handed Nevada a commanding 53-45 advantage.

Things then quickly unraveled for Nevada, as four Providence free throws and a 3-pointer left the Lady Tigers clinging to a 53-52 lead with 1:08 to play.

Nevada's strategy of getting to the charity stripe in order to salt away the contest never came to fruition, as a Lady Tiger turnover near half-court with 25 seconds remaining resulted in a pair of Julieth Rivera-Morales free throws and a 54-53 Providence lead.

After advancing the ball past half-court Nevada was forced to call a timeout with 7.5 seconds remaining after a doube-team trapped Payge Dahmer in the corner.

Following back-to-back full timeouts, one by each team, Nevada turned the ball over on the inbounds play, sealing the victory for Providence.

Nevada trailed 28-21 at the half, setting the stage for what was a seesaw battle for the vast majority of the second half.

Rivera-Morales tallied a game-high 23 points, while Beshore concluded with 20. Additionally for Nevada, guard Tylin Heathman chipped in 10 points, and Ferry, eight.

The loss puts Nevada (12-2) in the consolation finals, slated for today at noon against host Frontenac.

Tiger boys

The Nevada Tiger boys' team advanced to the KANGI title game with Thursday's 66-48 victory over Pacific.

The championship game is slated for today at 4:30 p.m., and is a rematch of last year's title tilt against Webb City.

Pacific kept it close early, with the contest knotted 13-13 at the conclusion of the opening frame. Nevada (13-2) then outscored Pacific 17-9 in the second for a 30-22 halftime advantage.

Behind Dalton Gayman's stellar 25-point outing the Tigers blew the game open in the second half en route to the decisive 18-point victory.

Also tallying double-figure scoring totals for Nevada were Logan Applegate (21) and Logan McNeley (13).

"When we take care of the ball we can really score it, we can really be hard to defend," said Nevada head coach Shaun Gray during his postgame radio interview.

In last year's title game Applegate detonated for a career-high 35 points as Nevada claimed the KANGI championship with a 66-59 victory.

Webb City enters as a .500 ball-club, but has been hot of late, dropping 100 points in their semifinal victory over Frontenac Thursday.

"You cannot look at their record," Gray said of Webb City, currently residing at 6-6- overall.

Gray noted that Webb City was short its full complement of players during the early portion of its schedule due to football obligations and a deep playoff run, and also faced a tough early-season schedule.

"We've seen some quick, athletic teams, and they are right up there with them," Gray continued during his radio interview. "It will all come down to handling their defensive pressure. If we handle the pressure, we'll have a good chance."

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