Final from an afternoon game in Cynthiana.

 

Scotty Draud led the Tigers with 17 points, Cole Busald 16 points and 7 steals, and Will Downton with 12 points and 5 assists.

 

Carpenter led the Thorobreds with 20 points and 8 rebounds.

Hopefully that is the breakout game the Tigers have been looking for from Busald. Beechwood really needs him to be an offensive threat.

Hopefully that is the breakout game the Tigers have been looking for from Busald. Beechwood really needs him to be an offensive threat.

 

He was 7-8 from the field, 1-2 from 3. It was a steal and layup drill for him today.

He was 7-8 from the field, 1-2 from 3. It was a steal and layup drill for him today.

 

I thought that might be the case when I saw the steals total. He is very fun to watch on that side of things. Long arms, quick feet and very crafty. I was hoping more of those points came out of the normal offense though.

IMO - Harrison Co is an extremely weak opponent. Not very skilled, big, or athletic. With that said, Beechwood again was miserable at stopping dribble drive penetration. Beechwood shot way too many 3’s and missed the majority. I bet they were below 30% on the day. The bigs rarely touched the ball in the paint and had a huge size advantage. It’s painful to watch as they continually chuck the 3 when it’s not going. One bright spot was Decker getting the ball at the FT line high post against the zone D. Very little energy / effort today and the game was much closer than the final score shows. Luckily, HC couldn’t handle the press well enough or the result might have been different. Not enough points on the half court set, lay ups saved them today. I hate to be a downer, but the Tigers have 2 of their toughest opponents this week and are certainly not peaking at the right time.

I didn’t see the game but sounds like Busalt was on. He can cause headaches defensively and pressure a good ball handler. The Downton kid has a similar style of defensive play. Their best all around defender is Decker. The biggest problem in the games I have seen this year is there seems to be no real leader. It is getting very late in the season. Their identity changes from game to game.