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Tigers humble Bullpups and will face Memorial in Division II semis in Event Center
To get there though, the Tigers needed to get past the defending Division II champions just one more time, so once again, just five days after losing to Hanford in the West Yosemite League finale, the Tigers returned the favor before a jammed-packed rowdy Event Center crowd and beat the Bullpups 71-67.
The Tigers will also have to beat San Joaquin Memorial; a team the Tigers beat 66-56 in the Kings County Classic back on Dec. 10. The Panthers have been on a streak of their own, beating Independence High School Thursday night 66-48 to put them in the semifinal Tuesday night against Lemoore. The Tigers will host the Panthers at 7 p.m. in the Event Center. Memorial won its league championship and finished with a 25-4 record.
A week ago the Tigers were outrebounded and sadly watched as Hanford spoiled their perfect WYL season with a 66-54 win. It was quite the different story Thursday night as the Tigers clearly perked up on the boards and outrebounded Hanford rather easily on the defensive and offensive side of the glass.
“We out rebounded them this time like nobody’s business,” said Tiger Coach Joel Sligh. “Last time when we played them and lost, we got out rebounded and we had way too many turnovers. This time around we limited out turnovers and we won the rebounding game. And with this particular team, when we win the rebounding game, we put ourselves in a really good position. We didn’t just get defensive rebounds, we got offensive rebounds. We had second chance opportunities. And you know that in life and basketball anytime you get second chance opportunities you’re probably going to do something really good with it.”
The Tigers trailed Hanford much of the first half but recovered at the end to cut the gap to just three points, 39-36 at the half. In that first half, Hanford certainly had the hot hand, connecting on six 3-point shots to keep the Tigers at bay, including a pair from Ryan Johnson, who finished with 20 points to lead the Bullpups in scoring.
Still, in the early minutes, Lemoore’s Matthew Borba managed to keep his squad close, scoring seven first-quarter points on a variety of short jumpers and inside moves.
The Tigers dominant man of the night, Jaylunn English, despite being harassed all night by Hanford’s defense, led all scorers with 26 points, including 15 in the first half to keep the Tigers close.
Understandably, English was pleased with Thursday night’s outcome. “This feels really good,” he said moments after beating the Bullpups surrounded by family and fans. “This was a really big win for us and tonight we really played as a team.”
Borba was pleased as well. “This was amazing. I’m so happy right now. Our defense was the key. The short corner was killing us in the first half and in the second half we came in and we stopped it. We just had to stop that corner and the middle. Sometimes you just can’t stop the threes.”
Lemoore came out the second half a slightly different team, always staying within striking distance before settling for a 53-53 time at the end of three. The Tigers then went quickly to work, taking the lead on baskets from Roger Wilson and English to go up 57-53, a lead they refused to relinquish.
Al Perryman gave the Tigers their biggest lead at 62-55 on a twisting bank off the backboard. Johnson connected on another 3-point effort to cut the margin to four points and then scored again moments later to cut it to just two points 62-60.
English followed with a magnificent 3-point shot that appeared to reach into the rafters before finding the backboard and then the rim for a 65-60 Tiger lead. He scored again moments later for a 67-60 advantage.
With just 40 seconds left in the game Spencer Stinger, who came up with a timely steal, connected on a free throw for a 68-62 advantage. Stinger finished with 14 points, including eight in the second half.
With just 22.9 seconds left Johnson calmly sank two free throws to cut the Tigers’ lead to 70-66, but a key rebound from Wilson in the waning seconds off a free-throw miss, cemented the Tigers 71-67 win.
Sligh was philosophical after the game. “The game of basketball is made of streaks, and they (Hanford) went 7 of 12 from the 3-point line in the beginning of the game,” he said. “And you know you just kind of hope that streak has worn its way. We came out, we made some adjustments, and our guys made a determination that they just wanted to play them straight up and just go at them, and they competed. They absolutely competed down to the very end.”
