Tigers Corral the Mustangs in a Dominant Performance

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By: Corey Stoty

MEMPHIS, Mo.- 2/1/21- The Marion County Mustangs (1-15) have had a tough season, but this was not a game that the young Scotland County Tigers (8- 8) could afford to overlook or take for granted. The challenge for Coach Jeremy Austin was to keep his team focused on the job at hand and to not let up. And that’s exactly what he got from his team.

The Tigers jumped out to a fast 6-0 start. Junior center Xavier Lucas scored the first pair of points in the pain, then threw the outlet pass on the run-out to Corbyn Spurgeon that led to the second pair of points. A pair of Owen Triplett free throws saw the Tigers firmly in the drivers seat to start the contest.

Marion County answered with their first bucket at the 6:30 mark of the period, but Scotland kept pushing and soon led 13-2 with 4:35 to play in the first. While Marion County had a little excitement at the end of the first quarter with a Jackson Stewart buzzer beater from half court, the momentum was all with Scotland County and the Tigers led 20- 10 after one.

The second quarter saw the Tigers continue their run and they outscored the Mustangs 18-11 in the period to take a 38-21 lead to the halftime locker room. The first half saw the Tigers dominate the paint and distribute the ball well with a minimum amount of turnovers.

“They’ve improved quite a bit from last year,” Austin said. “I’m happy that we were able to go out and keep our foot on the gas and make a few good plays.”

The Tigers did indeed keep their foot on the gas. They unleashed another offensive onslaught and outscored Marion County 20-7 in the third quarter to lead 58-28. A running clock in the fourth quarter saw many of the younger Tigers get in on the action. When the final buzzer sounded, Scotland County had a convincing 67-30 win.

“I thought we did a really good job of taking care of the ball tonight,” Austin observed. “Rebounding was pretty good. I didn’t add up the total of our assists, but it’s got to be a pretty high number, and that’s what we want to see. I thought we played very unselfishly and looked like a pretty well-balanced team for the most part.”

Carson Harrison led all scorers with 16 points. Hunter Carter scored 12, Spurgeon and Triplett had 10 apiece. Kabe Hamlin had 8 points, Lucas had 4 points, Jared Cerroni scored 3 points, Lucas Durflinger and Aiden Frederick each had 2 points apiece.