Rich Hill vs. Hume
On Thursday night in the second round of the district play-offs at the Dome in Rich Hill, the Tigers took on their longtime rivals the Hume Hornets for the right to play Friday night for a district championship. This has always been a long time bragging rights game for both communities. If you ask most former players of this rivalry for the most part this has been a match that has always been looked forward to. In recent years it has changed a little because of the coop formed by both schools to play another sport’ so you may be playing against a person who was your teammate just a few months ago.
The Tigers opened the game with great intensity from the opening tipoff, attacking on the offensive end of the court but having trouble connecting. Even with a number of early missed shots they controlled the game with offensive rebounding. Hume did a good job early in the quarter taking an early lead. As the shooting for the Tigers started to warm up and applying defensive pressure, Rich Hill led at the end of the first quarter 14-9. The Tigers increased their offensive output in the second frame by scoring 21 points and their defense continued to pressure the Hornets into turning over the ball. Transition buckets help the Tigers to build a double digit lead going into the break with score of 35-20. At times during the first half the Tigers found several players sitting with foul trouble but the players coming off the bench helped them keep the pace going. After the break the Hornets went on a small run that was short lived until the Tigers were able to get back in gear and at the end of three it was Rich Hill 56 Hume 26. In the fourth quarter Coach Moles substituted freely with his bench to rest players for the Friday night game and getting more experience for his younger players. Hume outscored the Tigers in the final quarter 14-12 but the Tigers took this Thursday night game by a score of Rich Hill 68 Hume 40. The Tigers improved their season record to 13-14 and are headed to the District 6 Championship Game on Friday night against the Montrose Bluejays. Montrose had won the other semi-final game of the night by upsetting the number one seed Drexel Bobcats in overtime. Game time for the boy’s championship game will be at 6:00, followed by the girl’s championship game.
Scoring for Rich Hill against Hume featured eight Tigers getting into the scoring column. Clifton Bridgewater led the Tigers in scoring for the night with 23 points, Sage Bolser 14, Brady Querry 12, Magal Chol 7, Daylen Walton 6, Lucas Harwood 3, Blake Laning 3 and Adrien King 2.