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Sports Phoenix bounces Tigers from tourney
Phoenix bounces Tigers from tourney
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The bulbs at Gill Coliseum froze the Tigers again, this time to the tune of a 60-49 loss Thursday morning to Phoenix in the consolation round of the Oregon Class 4A Basketball Championships. Once again the loss had the same blueprint — La Grande lost the battle on the boards and at the free-throw line. A brief glimmer of hope remained after one quarter. Senior Luke Kevan tried to hold up his promise of victory, scoring the first two baskets of the game. In spurts it looked like the Tiger team that compiled 23 regular-season wins. Other times it looked like the team that missed out on the playoffs a season ago. The Mike Shepherd show started in the second quarter. Shepherd dominated the post, scoring 11 first half points. Phoenix picked up six offensive rebounds in the half, with Shepherd pulling down two. “We just couldn’t get a board,” La Grande coach Aaron Mills said. “It was getting to the point where they would take a shot and we’d be praying for a defensive rebound. When we could get one, we could push the ball up the court and play our game. But we just couldn’t get very many of them.” The physical battle continued to go to the opposition in the second half. Possessions typically ended in a Pirate rebound followed by a basket or a La Grande foul. That scenario repeated itself for the final 16 minutes of the game. “We were just physically outclassed,” Mills said. “Our guys don’t see this type of size most of the season. We go two months being as big or bigger than our opponents. When teams are 6-foot-2 across the board, it’s a definite advantage. Physically speaking we haven’t seen teams like this since December.’’ While Shepherd spent the second half in foul trouble, George emerged as the Tiger tamer. The Phoenix guard erupted for 15 points in the second half. “I knew I had to step up for our team,” George said. “The game was going back and forth, and we needed to make a final push. I was able to hit a few shots to get us going.” His 3-point shot with 2:38 left in the game pushed the lead to five points. La Grande tried to stick around, but the Pirates knocked down 7-of-8 free throws. Phoenix finished 17-of-19 for the game from the charity stripe. The Tigers made eight trips to the free-throw line the whole game and made three. “You can’t overcome those obstacles,” Mills said. “You’ve got to rebound and get defense stops at this tournament. We just couldn’t do it.” Kevan finished with 17 points in the game. Kevin Attila tallied 13 points. La Grande, which went into the tourney with a 24-1 record and ranked No. 1, finished the season 24-3. Phoenix, 22-9, was scheduled to play in the fourth-place game this morning against Hidden Valley. PHOENIX (60)Andrew George 7-9 4-4 19, Mike Shepherd 5-15 5-6 15, Codey Barrett 5-8 0-0 10, Neil Emerson 2-7 2-2 6, Ryan Robinson 1-4 3-4 5, Kory Locken 1-5 3-3 5, Ben Crichton 0-0 0-0 0, Shane Hendricks 0-0 0-0 0, Jeff Bohn 0-0 0-0 0, Juan Sauceda 0-0 0-0 0, Nick Workman 0-3 0-0 0, Dom Ralls 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-51 17-19 60. LA GRANDE (49)
Luke Kevan 8-10 1-2 17, Kevin Attila 4-12 1-2 13, Cody McKague 4-13 0-0 9, Anthony Nice 2-8 0-0 5, Gage Winde 2-2 0-0 4, Kevin Boyd 0-0 1-2 1, Ryan Tooke 0-4 0-0 0, Zach Nice 0-1 0-2 0. Totals 20-50 3-8 49.
La Grande 15 8 13 13 — 49 |
