Tigercats end league play with 87-42 win

After suffering a hard defeat to Colton on Friday night, the LWK Tigercats returned to the hardwood on Saturday to end the league competition with an 87-42 win over St. John-Endicott in the final Southeast 1B game of the season. The Tigercats honored a group of seven seniors, and the athletes left it all on the court to earn the league win.

The Tigercats traveled to Colton on Friday and were greeted by an extremely successful Wildcat team, who handed the Tigercats a 79-54 loss. With the return of Wildcat athlete Jake Straughn, the Tigercats struggled to contain the former league MVP, as well as a strong shooting Colton team.

Tigercats head coach Mike Stubbs said Colton brought forward a tough game as they truly functioned as a team, but looked to their tall man inside, Dalton Patchen, for points and Straughn at the perimeter. Stubbs explained the Tigercats maintained tough defense throughout the game, but the strong offensive game by Colton proved to be the difference of the game.

Colton made their presence known by taking a dominating lead going into halftime with a 43-24 advantage over the Tigercats.

The Tigercats made adjustments to their defensive strategy in an effort to reduce Patchen and Straughn’s scoring drive, but the effort fell just short.

“It’s not that our defense was that poor, but they moved the ball really well and shot really well,” Stubbs explained.

Stubbs said the Tigercats did a good job of making adjustments throughout the game and worked to contain a clicking Wildcat team. With Straughn being absent for the majority of the league games this year, the Wildcats have looked to their bench to step up as leaders, and Stubbs said the court experience has greatly benefitted the overall strength of the Colton team.

“They played with a great energy in their gym that night,” Stubbs said of Colton’s own senior night game.

“It wasn’t that I was so much disappointed with our effort, I was disappointed in the outcome,” Stubbs said. “I thought the point differential would be closer than it was.”

Darcy Stamper led the Tigercats with 19 points, closely followed by Riley Roberts with 18 points.

Brandon Bennett had six points and Stephen Erickson contributed five points. Graham BeDell, Cole Evans and Chance Rice all added two points each.

Coming off of the loss, the Tigercats found renewed energy and enthusiasm to take on St. John-Endicott in LaCrosse on Saturday night. The Tigercats secured the final league win, led by a tremendous scoring effort from Stamper. The game ended in spectacular fashion when Stamper slammed home a successful dunk just as the final buzzer sounded.

The Tigercats also welcomed Joey Guske back to the court for the first time since he suffered a collarbone injury in practice.

The senior athlete immediately sank back into the feel of the game by sinking one of the first shots of the game, and put up 11 points for the Tigercats.

“It’s an understatement to say how much the team has missed him,” Stubbs said of Guske, “He makes our team better in multiple ways.”

The team fed off the energy of senior night and the return of Guske, easily running out to a significant lead in the first half. The Tigercats shot 52 percent in the game and made 100 percent of their free throws.

Stubbs said the team flowed well together and played more relaxed, natural basketball. Every athlete received court time on Saturday and all of the senior athletes put points on the scoreboard.

Stamper controlled the scoring and had a tremendous night, putting up 41 points for the Tigercats.

Roberts controlled the paint and attacked the basket throughout the night to add 18 points to the final score.

Guske ended the night with 11.

Bennett scored five points, and Bo Rice and BeDell each had four points. Erickson ended the night with two.

The Tigercats are now preparing for the first round of district competition and enter the tournament as the sixth ranked league team. The Tigercats will compete against Colton, the third ranked team, in Colton on Thursday.

A win moves the Tigercats into the district competition Saturday in Colfax, while a loss moves them to a Tuesday game the following week.

Stubbs said the team is focusing improving the offensive attack against Colton’s defense.

Stubbs explained the Tigercats are completely aware of what Colton is capable of doing and plans to prepare the team as best they can to be prepared for Colton’s tough defense while improving defense against a strong shooting team.

When tip-off occurs at 6 p.m., the Tigercats will be ready to pressure Colton and fight for a slot in Saturday’s district competition.