Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Cardinal E.J. Meserve gets ready to throw in the ball during his team's game against the Tigerscots Monday.
WAITSBURG - The Waitsburg-Prescott boys basketball team capped off a busy opening week of contests with a hard-fought 59- 55 win against the Weston- McEwen TigerScots after three straight losses to start the year.
Monday's home contest with the TigerScots was a rematch of Friday's night game at Athena, although the difference in style and outcomes of the two games were as stark as night and day.
The Cardinals played zone the majority of the night, forcing Weston-McEwen to shoot the outside jumper, which it made in droves. The TigerScots hit on nine 3-point attempts for the game, with junior guard Lance Thacker accounting for all but one. Thacker finished the night with 32 points.
But W-P, with a now polished press break and crisper offensive execution lit up the TigerScots on the inside. The Cardinals won the rebounding battle 37-33 and capitalized on missed opportunities with points.
Owen Lanning and Chance Leroue both tallied double-doubles for the Cards. Guard Lanning scored 19 points while grabbing 12 rebounds, while post-man Leroue registered 14 and 12.
In the first quarter WP bolted to a 14-6 lead, but back-to-back treys by Thacker and Jacob Ramirez cut the lead to 14-12. WP used a 6-0 run to start the second quarter to take a 9-point advantage at 24-15, but by halftime led by just two, 28-26.
The TigerScots regained the lead for the first time since 6-4 with two quick buckets out of the locker rooms. The Cards trailed by as much as seven before closing to a 43-41 deficit entering the fourth.
A Leroue bucket within the first 10 seconds of the final period recaptured the lead for the Cards and they would relinquish just three more time in the game - at 45-44, 47-46 and 52-51.
WP called timeout after Zane Chapman's deuce gave the TigerScots the 52-51 lead. WP responded out of the break with a Seth Deal 3-pointer, then a steal and end-to-end lay-up by senior point guard Dalton Estes. The TigerScots closed back to within one on Thacker's final three but free throws by Estes and Lanning salted away the victory.
Friday's game against Weston-McEwen was more of an up-and-down affair with Weston-McEwen hitting on zero 3-point attempts while barely attempting them at all. Instead the TigerScots used back-cuts against WP's man defense, leaving the Cardinals in tatters down 18 points at the halftime break. WP switched up defenses in the second half, and outscored the TigerScots 31-19 down the stretch. But it wasn't enough as the Cardinals fell 53-47.
Lanning again led the Cards in points with 12. No other player scored in double figures for WP.
Saturday, the Cardinals hosted league rival Asotin in a non-league match-up - a game that the Panthers took by 10, 63-53. Asotin built a 14-9 lead after one quarter thanks to its superior size. Center Nathan Scheibe poured in nine points in the first and 30 for the game. Lanning's 19 and Estes 10 led the Cards on the scoreboard. The Cardinals never led in the game.
Last Tuesday's game against Colfax-the Cards' first of the season was a forgettable affair, as the red, black, and blue fell 68-32 against one of the better roundball clubs in the state.
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