T-cats prepare for second half of season

As the LaCrosse-Washtucna/Kahlotus Tigercats move into the second half of the season, the team is preparing to see tough competition from league opponents, as the Tigercats still hold the top spot in the Southeast 1B league with a 9-1 record. Head coach Mike Jones said the Tigercats have a target on their back as they face teams for the second time in league play.

During the first game against Pomeroy on Tuesday, Jan. 8, the Tigercats faced their first loss of the season in an away game against the Pirates, 42-40.

Pomeroy is second in league with an 8-2 record, after losing a game to Colton and Garfield-Palouse.

Jones said the Tigercats struggled to make free throws, going 7-18 from the line, but matched the Pirates in rebounding. The Tigercats trailed 5-16 in the first quarter, but closed the gap by the end of the third quarter, 27-33.

The Tigercats outscored the Pirates in the last three quarters of the game and eventually tied the game with 25 seconds left. Pomeroy hit a two-point shot, and the Tigercats inbounded the ball with 3.5 seconds left on the clock. Justin Wargo took the shot for the Tigercats, but the ball was tipped, ending the game with a two-point loss for the team.

“I wish we had shot a little better and made some free throws, but we didn’t do the job and Pomeroy played well enough to win,” Jones said. “But the kids learned their lesson that we need to come out from the get-go and play hard from the first quarter on.”

The Tigercats moved on to face Liberty Christian on Friday, and walked away with a 50-32 win. In the first match up of the season, the Tigercats defeated Liberty Christian by 30 points, but the team had been missing two key players.

The Tigercats led the Patriots 23-16 with around 30 seconds left in the second quarter, but the Patriots were able to hit two, three-point shots before the buzzer sounded for halftime, bringing the score within one point.

The Tigercats made adjustments at halftime and were able to outscore the Patriots 27-10 in the second half.

“We were expecting a struggle and a tough game,” Jones explained. “Justin Wargo and Jed Zimmer did a really good job at hitting the boards … Those two kids in particular did a great job of rebounding in the second half.”

Wargo led the scoring drive for the Tigercats, racking up 19 points, while Zimmer contributed 13 points to the final score. Jones said the two athletes were able to earn many of their points off offensive rebounds and put-back points.

Darcy Stamper earned 11 points during the game, followed by Alec Fleming with four points and Joey Guske with three points.

The Tigercats finished the week with a home game against Tekoa-Oakesdale and a 58-24 win over the Nighthawks. The Tigercats jumped out to a 15-point lead early in the game, providing the team with the opportunity to put in players from the bench, and going into halftime, the Tigercats had a 33-12 lead over the Nighthawks.

“It was a good opportunity to get a lot of kids playing time, and to get a lot of kids into the game that haven’t been able to get into the game,” Jones said.

“We used a lot of different kids, tried a couple different things, like combination changes,” Jones continued. “Even though the game was pretty rough execution-wise because of combinations, the kids played hard.”

Zimmer stepped up to lead the Tigercats in scoring with 16 points, and controlled the paint most of the night, even against Max Mueller, a 6-foot-8 post playing for the Nighthawks. Stamper put in 10 points, while Fleming and Guske had nine points each in the game.

Wargo contributed eight points, and Bo Rice earned three points. Sam Harder scored two points and Matt Stubbs rounded out the score with one point.

The Tigercats face Rosalia and Gar-Pal for the second time during weekend play, and Jones expects both games to be physical and challenging for the Tigercats.

“Defense, rebounds and turnovers will be the three main things; the struggles for success,” Jones explained. “If we control those three stats, then we’ll be in the game.”

The Tigercats play Rosalia in Washtucna on Friday, Jan. 18, with tip-off at 7:30 p.m.

The Tigercats travel to Palouse on Saturday to face the third ranked team in the league, Gar-Pal, with game time set at 6:30 p.m.