Tigercats grab district title with 60-51 win

The cheers and celebratory cries rang through the Colfax gym as the Tigercats claimed the district championship title from the Pomeroy Pirates Friday, but the loudest cheers came from the seven senior varsity athletes who earned their first championship title in their high school basketball career.

The Tigercats received the SE District 9 championship title when they defeated Pomeroy 60-51 and now continue on to the regional competition this weekend. None of the current Tigercat athletes have ever competed in the regional basketball tournament, and the win at districts put the Tigercats one step closer to achieving their goal of competing at state.

The team took the court looking anxious in the early minutes of the game, but the nerves began to settle when Pomeroy got out to an early lead. The Tigercats quickly closed the gap and controlled the tempo with help from senior athlete Alec Fleming.

Fleming hit two 3-pointers to tie the game for the Tigercats and four first quarter points from Jed Zimmer gave the Tigercats the scoring advantage. Sam Harder hit the front end of his free throws to give the Tigercats an 11-8 lead when the first quarter came to a close.

The Tigercats maintained the momentum during the second quarter but the Pirates continued to stay with the Tigercats. Fleming hit two more key shots to secure the lead, and the Tigercats were able to look to any man on the floor for additional points.

Riley Roberts subbed in for the Tigercats and put up five points in the second quarter, and Matt Stubbs hit a three to give the Tigercats the added points they needed. The team maintained the lead and went into the locker room at halftime with a 30-23 score.

“Alec played well, it was one of his better games,” head coach Mike Jones said. “He’s had times during this season where he’s done well for us, and I’m glad he made the most of the opportunity given to him.”

Even though the Tigercats were able to rely on their guards, Fleming and Stubbs, for points, the Tigercats were riddled by fouls throughout the game. Pomeroy went into shooting one-and-one free throws midway through the second quarter, and again late in the third.

“We’re aggressive. We try to have very active hands, and a lot of times we’re going to have more fouls than the other team,” Jones explained about the high foul count. “We do want to be active and we’re trying to make things happen on the defensive end. One thing that’s helped us this year is the kids are defensively active.”

The Tigercats continued a balanced scoring drive throughout the second half, as the team was able to rely on every athlete on the court to put up points. Pomeroy ran a box and one defense, attempting to block Darcy Stamper from gaining access to the basket, but he broke down their defense in the second half.

Stamper, who was held scoreless in the first half, scored four points for the Tigercats in the third quarter and drew fouls in the fourth to put him at the free throw line. The Tigercats put the ball in his hands late in the fourth and he converted the fouls to points, going nine of 10 from the line.

In a combined scoring effort, Stamper and senior athlete Justin Wargo completed 23 of the Tigercats’ 30 points in the second half.

The Tigercats outscored Pomeroy in the first three quarters of the game, but the Pirates closed the gap during the fourth quarter. Though the Tigercats were up by double digits in the third quarter, the lead closed within five points before Stamper went to the line.

“I have to give Pomeroy credit, we could not pull away from them,” Jones said. “I thought it was a good game: Pomeroy played well, and we played well.”

Fleming and Stamper ended the night with 13 points apiece and Wargo put up 12 points in the game. Zimmer made nine points, and Roberts and Stubbs had five each. Joey Guske had two points and Harder hit one free throw.

The Tigercats move on to face the number two team from District 7, Wellpinit. The teams meet in the regional tournament with the game to be played at Walla Walla High School on Saturday, Feb. 23, with tip-off set for 6 p.m.

Jones traveled to the District 7 championship game between Wellpinit and Odessa-Harrington last Saturday to see firsthand what both teams did. Odessa-Harrington won with a score of 50-46 over Wellpinit.

“They (Wellpinit) are an athletic group of kids, they like to push the tempo,” said Jones. “Odessa-Harrington did a really good job of putting the pressure on Wellpinit.”

Jones said the Tigercats plan to follow Odessa-Harrington’s strategy and apply tough defensive pressure. The team needs to focus on guarding, keeping Wellpinit off the offensive boards and continue to move their feet with and without the ball, Jones explained.

Overall, Jones believes the two teams are very comparable and the athletes should match up well on both ends of the court. Wellpinit likes to apply pressure in a full court and half court press, two defenses the Tigercats have seen continuously during the district tournament.

“They’re not going to throw anything at us that we haven’t necessarily seen. It’s their athleticism and their quickness we have to worry about,” Jones said.

For Jones, the keys to the game are simple: “Number one is going to be rebounding; limit their second chance shots and get some second change shots of our own. Second is going to be ball security.”

Jones looks forward to the regional game and having the hometown fans travel to the match. The Tigercat fans have packed the stands at all of the district games and Jones said their support has contributed to the team’s success.

The regional game is a loser-out competition and a win over Wellpinit secures a trip to state for the Tigercats.