Rich Hill vs. Archie
On Friday night, Rich Hill played their second home game for the week, with the Archie Whirlwinds paying a visit for their yearly conference game. Six days earlier the Tiger had dropped an eleven point game to the Whirlwind during their Invitational Tournament. Rich Hill was looking for revenge and improving their conference standing in the WEMO.
The JV boys were coming into the contest after dropping a game early this week to the team from Jasper. The Young Tigers got off to a slow start and could never quite get going and after the first quarter Archie led 15-4. In the second frame the Tigers were able to tighten up their defense and outscore their opponents 8-7 but with a two quarter game Rich Hill fell to the JV Whirlwinds, 13-22. Scoring for the Tigers, Adrien King 5, Magal Chol 3, Daylen Walton 2 and Blake Laning and Garren Stueck with one each.
In the boys’ varsity contest of the evening the Tigers came into the contest after a hard fought win on Tuesday night against the Jasper Eagles. The Whirlwinds came into the game after winning a one point decision over the Drexel Bobcats on Wednesday night. Rich Hill came into the game wanting to prove that last weekend they hadn’t played their best and were ready to go. The Tigers came out immediately from the opening tip-off applying heavy defensive pressure causing several turnovers by the Whirlwinds. Rich Hills’ offense got off to a much better start, taking time to run their plays and obtaining three opens treys which they connected on. At the end of the first quarter the Tigers took an early 14-9 lead. In the second quarter the good defense continued and the Tigers were able to out rebound the taller Whirlwinds. The offense used their defensive energy to push the ball down the floor and attack the rim. When Archie tightened up their defense in the middle the Tigers looked for the open three and as in the first quarter dropped in three treys and pushed the lead at half-time to Rich Hill 33 Archie 21. In the last couple of games, the start of the second quarter hasn’t been kind to the Tigers but this night would be different. Archie had first possession of the second half and the Tigers locked down on defense preventing the Whirlwinds from scoring. When the Tigers got their first possession they pushed the ball down the floor and scored. The defense created several turnovers leading to Rich Hill scoring quickly. The Tigers offense exploded for 23 points for the period while the defense held Archie to just six points. After three quarters the Tigers held a 56-27 lead. In the fourth quarter the Rich Hill coach rotated several players from the bench into the game to get game experience and as the final buzzer sounded the Tigers had a victory over a good Archie team, 64-38. The main keys for the Tiger victory was a high energy defense and good rebounding. The Tigers improved to 9-12 overall and 3-2 in the WEMO conference. The Tigers will hit the road next Tuesday night travelling to Liberal for a conference game. The Tigers only have four regular season games left in the 2019-2020 season before district play starts.
Scoring for the Rich Hill Varsity Squad against Archie, Sage Bolser with 22, Brady Querry 12, Clifton Bridgewater 11, Bryce Yohe 7, and Daylen Walton and Magal Chol both contributed 6 apiece