Steve Dunford
THOMPSONVILLE- The Thompsonville Tigers were sitting at 3-2 on the season after their 71-55 win over NCOE on December 2nd. They dropped their seventh straight game in a 50-27 loss to Hardin County in Greater Egyptian Conference play.
“Cougar Chaos” traveled well last night, as the visitors bleachers on the east Side of Doc Harvey gym were packed. They did not make the long 75 mile trip back home on Route 34 disappointed.
6′ 7″ sophomore Center Anthoney Darge steps to the free throw line last night for the Tigers
Coach Pete Gordon all year has been telling over and over what his young squad needs to do. They need to cut down on turnovers. I had them with 10 in the first quarter alone. I don’t know how many they finished with for the game with but several were unforced.
Free throw shooting has been another point by Coach Gordon where they have struggled. The Tigers were 7-18 39% from the line.
In my view, there were several of opportunities to attack the zone that were passed up. Hardin County is very prone to get in foul trouble. It is something this young ball club is going to have to learn to do. The GEC is a dominant zone league. The only teams that play mainly man-to-man is Gallatin County and NCOE. Crab Orchard mixes it up.
Tiger G-F Reed Raubach being guarded by Tyler Winters, who has over 1,000 points in his career.
Even though they are struggling, it seems like any team filled with sophomores. Please be patient with the coaching staff. There are three very good ones on the sidelines. Most of all be patient with these kids.
I left a disgusted alumnus last night, I am going to be honest. I have thought about last night a lot. The Benton Rangers have a lot on their roster that had to step up and play when they were young. They were 25-4 last year. They are 13-1 and ranked 7th in the state in the latest AP class 3A poll. Again, I said just be patient. Good things will come in time.
I talk to Hardin County coach Rodney lane a lot throughout the season. I did not get direct quotes but he was very pleased with the defensive effort from the Cougars. He said they missed too many layups.
He also gave me an update on sharp shooting guard Cameron Shaw. He went down with a knee injury with six minutes to go in the first quarter. He said his knee is still swollen today.
The post players had their way last night inside for the Cougars. Craig Hudson led the way with 15. Jamison Hicks had 12. Tyler Winters had 11. Cory Wilce was the only Tiger in double figures with 12.
The Tigers dropped to 3-8 on the season and 1-4 in the GEC. They are 1/2 game ahead of Pope County for the cellar. Hardin improves to 4-8 and 2-2 in the conference. With last night’s win, they are in sole possession of third place.
Hardin County has Galatia at home on Tuesday night in their second home game of the year.
Thompsonville has Carrier Mills in a non conference game. The first game a team plays each other counts in the conference race in the GEC.
Around the GEC last night, Seth Ramsey burned up the nets in Golconda last night as he had 48 points in a 91-69 victory over Pope County. Crab Orchard went down to Century and won 77-67. Galatia made the trip to Marion and thumped Agape Chirstian 77-49.
I just got a Tweet that Gallatin County beat Webber Township 52-40 this afternoon.
The seeding meeting is taking place Monday. I always do some bracketology. Here is my “fly on the wall” ballot.
- Gallatin County
- Crab Orchard
- Hardin County
- Carrier Mills
- Galatia
- NCOE
- Pope County
- Thompsonville
BOX SCORE:
HARDIN COUNTY (50) Hudson 6 0 3-9 15, Hicks 5 0 2-5 12; Winters 3 1 2-2 11; Austin 1 0 4-6 8; Cullum 1 0 0-0 2; Fields 0 0 2-2 2
THOMPSONVILLE (27) Wilce 2 1 3-5 10; Fitch 2 0 1-5 5; Kessler 01 0-0 3; Payne 2 0 0-0 4; Darge 1 0 0-2 2; Summers 0 0 2-4 2; Woodring 0 0 1-2 1; Jones 0 0 0-0 0; Bybee 0 0 0-0 0; Dixon 0 0 0-0 0; Kirkman 0 0 0-0 0; Cardwell 0 0 0-0 0
SCORE BY QUARTERS:
HARDIN COUNTY (4-8) (2-2) 9 11 8 22-50
THOMPSONVILLE (3-8)(1-4) 2 8 2 15-27
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