01-27-18
BY JACK BULLOCK
HARRISBURG – For the first time since the program came into the Greater Egyptian Conference in 2007-08, the Thompsonville Tigers are the champions of the annual conference tournament.

And head coach Pete Gordon can thank his teams' defensive performance in the 39-31 victory over Hardin County in Saturday night's championship game.

While the offense struggled at times, especially at the free throw line early in the fourth quarter, the defense bailed them out by shutting down the Cougars.

The Tigers held Hardin County to one field goal during the first 12 minutes and 15 seconds of the second half as they took control of the contest that they trailed by four at intermission.

Offensively Thompsonville did just enough to get the victory, as they were led by 11-points by sophomore guard Corbin Fitch.

Junior guard Tyson Kessler tossed in 10-points and eight-points came from junior Anthony Darge.

All of those numbers could have been higher had the Tigers been more efficient from the foul line.

As a team they were just 13-of-25 overall and they missed eight of those tosses in the final eight minutes.

However the defense never buckled as they not only took home the championship trophy but the also improved their stock to 14-7 overall in 2017-18.

“Without a doubt our defense won this game. When you look at our scores of the games this week, we are not scoring a ton of points so for us to advance we had to lock people down and that is what they (the kids) did,” said Coach Gordon. “Last night (against Gallatin County) it was our 2-3 zone, and tonight it was our man-to-man.”

The Cougars had many offensive issues in the contest, including hitting just 1-of-5 shots from the field in the third quarter while committing eight of their 23-turnovers in that stretch.

Coach Rodny Lane's club, with 4:30 minutes left in the fourth quarter, had as many turnovers as they had points (21).

That isn't a good formula for success as Hardin County saw its overall record fall to 7-9 overall.

The Cougars were led in scoring by 6-foot-5 senior forward Jamison Hicks who notched 12-points.

No other Hardin County player managed double-figures in the loss.

It was evident from the outset of the game that this contest would be decided on the defense end of the floor for both teams as neither offense shined in the opening frame.

Thompsonville got the lead at the first horn, 6-4, with Kessler and junior guard Peyton Roberts scoring baskets and Fitch hitting a pair of free throws.

Hardin County made its best, and only, offensive move of the night as they took the lead in the second quarter.

Hicks did the damage on the inside, scoring nine of his points.

He scored the first seven-points of the quarter by getting the ball down low and powering to the goal for scores.

His third field goal in the paint turned into a conventional three-point play when he was fouled by Tigers' junior Reed Raubach.

Consecutive buckets by senior guard Hunter Cullum and junior Gabe Fowler had the Cougars sitting on their biggest lead at 16-7.

Thompsonville then rallied before halftime.

A 7-2 run to close the half was triggered from the defensive end.

Kessler made a steal and converted a fast break lay in which was followed by a rebound basket by Fitch and a 3-pointer from the top of the circle by Raubach with :01 left ended the half at 18-14 Cougars.

Hardin County did virtually nothing right in the third quarter, with credit to Thompsonville for much of the problems.

Darge, a 6-foot-7 forward, got things going for the Tigers to start the second half.

He scored twice in the lane and Fitch scored on another fast break off of a Hardin County turnover.

Thompsonville got the lead when 6-foot-1 freshman Grady Furlow scored on consecutive chances.

Furlow buried a 3-pointer from the right wing to give the lead to the Tigers.

He then scored on a drive to the basket for a 25-21 lead.

Fitch added a pair of free throws for a six-point advantage heading to the final quarter.

Two more free throws by Fitch and basket by Darge on an assist from Roberts closed a 9-2 run that gave Thompsonville its largest lead of the game at 31-21.

Unfortunately the Tigers didn't put the Cougars away initially when they had the chance.

Much to the chagrin of the faithful and their head coach, the Kessler and Roberts combined to miss three straight front ends of 1-and-1's.

But the Cougars couldn't retaliate as the Thompsonville defense didn't allow a comeback on this night.

Hardin County junior guard Jaron Austin scored all six of his points in the final 3:45 of the game to make things a bit interesting.

Kessler slammed the door shut with 5-of-6 foul shots in the final 1:41 to give the Tigers a 39-27 lead.

The Cougars added a couple of scores in the final seconds to make the score look closer than the game actually was.

“The kids have bought in (on the defense) and ever since the Sesser tournament we have talked to them about really locking down on defense,” said Coach Gordon. “Holding teams to one shot. Then getting it and going. We had so many turnovers tonight, I don't know what our number was for the game, you wonder what our lead could have been had we taken better care of the ball and shot free throws better.”

Hardin County had chances as Thompsonville committed seven of their 15-turnovers in the final eight minutes.

But they also added to their turnover total (eight) in the fourth quarter.

As for the shooting on the night, the Cougars shot the ball well enough to pick up a win as they hit 12-of-29 from the floor overall (41.3 percent) compared to the Tigers (12-of-37, 32.4 percent).

The Tigers hit seven more free throws in the game and hit one more three-pointer of the 12 field goals that added up for the eight-point win.

The rebounding totals were even at 21-21 but 11 of the Thompsonville boards were offense rebounds, leading to extra chances and points.

“At the end of the day, I couldn't be more proud of the kids. We've been in that seventh place game the last three years and tonight we cut down the nets,” said Coach Gordon. “We've come a long way.”

Coach Evan Wyllie got 23-points from 6-foot-2 junior Brandon Skaggs and nine-points from 6-foot freshman Jack Riggs in the victory as NCOE improved to 5-12 on the year.

Eight different NCOE players scored and seven of them combined to hit 12 3-pointers, lead by Skaggs with three treys in the win.

Carrier Mills saw its mark fall to 2-17 overall despite 17-points from sophomore Darion Barners.

CM got 10-points each from 6-foot-4 sophomore DeAndre Moss and senior Billy Lewis in the loss.