BOYS BB: Tri-Central's happy streak comes to end
Dec. 23—SHARPSVILLE — Tri-Central's boys basketball team entered its game against Alexandria on Friday with momentum. The Class A No. 15-ranked Trojans were riding a six-game winning streak during which they were scoring 69.6 points per game.
That momentum and offensive production came to a screeching halt as Alexandria whipped TC 57-37.
The teams went back and forth for most of the first half as they had five ties and two lead changes. The Trojans had a 23-19 lead with 3:00 left in the half when the wheels started to come off. The Tigers closed the half on an 11-2 run for a 30-25 lead.
Up 32-29 midway through the third quarter, the Tigers ripped off another key run, this time closing the quarter on a 9-1 run for a 41-30 lead. From there, the Tigers completely dominated the final quarter to win going away.
"It got away from us in a hurry," TC coach Cam Hindman said. "I think the bottom line is they wanted the game a little more than we did. They attacked the loose balls a lot better. I thought they managed the ball very well. I don't think we brought enough pressure. A lot of that rests with me. We clearly didn't have the boys ready to play."
The Trojans (6-2) seemed out of sync offensively throughout the game. They shot 15 of 40 (37.5%) from the field overall and 3 of 15 (20%) from 3-land. In addition, they committed 17 turnovers.
"The first quarter, I think we had five possessions in a row that we didn't score. We ended the first half on a 1-for-5 possession scoring stretch. We had nine possessions in a row in the third quarter that we didn't score. And I think we had six in the fourth quarter that we didn't score. We just can't have those droughts," Hindman said.
"Our game is a lot of up tempo and we get a lot of possessions. They took some possessions away from us. We didn't take care of the ball and get anything out of a lot of possessions we did have."
Alex (5-2) finished plus-seven in turnovers and had nice offensive balance. Bryson Eckler and Conner Kettery, a pair of freshmen, scored 11 points apiece and Carson Hall and Gabe McGuire had 10 points apiece. Kettery had three 3-pointers during the Tigers' 11-2 run to close the first half.
Stetson Newcom led TC with 11 points, all coming in a three-minute stretch of the second quarter. Trenton Patz had nine points and five rebounds.
The Trojans will need to quickly bounce back as they return to action next week. They play Class 4A No. 10 Greenfield-Central and Waldron in a shootout on Thursday at Morristown.
"We're going to be in here [this] morning practicing and starting to prepare," Hindman said.
Bryan Gaskins is the Tribune's sports editor. He may be reached at bryan.gaskins@kokomotribune.com or 765-454-8567.
