December 8, 2005

Tigers Upset Novinger To Start Season On High Note

After a disappointing 2004-05 basketball season, Scotland County took the first step toward erasing those painful memories by upsetting the host team 44-41 in the first round of the Novinger Tournament, November 29th.

The Tigers, seeded sixth in the season-opening tourney, got off to a slow start against #3-seeded Novinger. The Wildcats opened the game with a 9-0 run to put SCR-I fans at unease.

The first period was pretty much all Novinger. A lay up by Bryce Blomme at the buzzer helped the Tigers cut the deficit to 16-8.

Scotland County clamped down on defense in the second period. Blomme hit a three pointer to start the second period and Chris Humes hit back-to-back jumpers to cut into the Novinger lead. Cody Musgrove hit his second straight bucket with 1:39 left in the first half and the Tigers went ahead 19-18.

Novinger pulled back ahead 20-19 at the intermission. But that proved to be the home team’s final lead of the contest.

SCR-I came out firing in the third period. Blomme drilled a three pointer to open the second half and tie the game. Lathan Watson then hit back-to-back three pointers and suddenly SCR-I was on top 30-22.

The Tigers got a little sloppy and let Novinger pull back to within 30-26 with 1:50 left in the period.

Grant Blomme converted a lay up that gave the Tigers a 32-28 lead heading into the final eight minutes.

The advantage swelled to 36-29 with 5:29 left in the game after Musgrove scored on a pair of offensive rebounds.

But Novinger did not go quietly. Logan Daniels began firing away from three-point land. His second triple of the rally tied the game at 36-36 and forced an SCR-I time-out with just under three minutes to play.

The contest began to take on the looks of a prize fight as the two “boxers” went toe-to-toe trading blows.

After Daniels delivered the three pointer for the tie, Bryce Blomme connected from the top of the arc to return the 39-36 advantage to SCR-I. Daniels delivered the counter punch, another three pointer to once again knot the score at 39-39.

Musgrove scored on an offensive rebound with just under a minute in the game. But Novinger responded with Daniels scoring on a drive to the basket to tie the contest once again.

Blomme delivered the knock-out punch with his fourth three pointer of the night to put the Tigers ahead 44-41.

Novinger had one last chance to tie the game but the SCR-I defense didn’t allow Daniels a look at the basket and a three-point attempt was no good, securing the 44-41 victory.

The Tigers advanced to play #2 seed LaPlata in the semifinals.

Bryce Blomme led the Tigers with 18 points on four-of-six shooting from behind the three-point line. Cody Musgrove finished with 12 points on a tough shooting night but also grabbed 16 rebounds in a dominating performance in the paint. Watson battled foul trouble most of the night but finished with eight points, including the two three pointers that turned the tide in the contest.