Traveling to Frontenac for the first of a 3-day skid, the Nevada Tigers drew a tough first-round game against a Piedmont Oklahoma team that traveled over 4 hours to make it over to Southeast Kansas and brought with them a very athletic team that could attack you from every position.
In a very low-scoring 1st quarter for both teams, the game looked like it might turn into a defensive battle. Piedmont would win the opening tip but didn’t find the bottom of the basket until their second possession off of a Nevada turnover. This would spark a 6-0 run before Brice Budd would drive to the basket and get fouled. The bucket wouldn’t fall but he was able to hit both free throws to get the Tigers on the scoreboard. Jack Cheaney would then hit a 3-pointer getting Nevada within 3 points at 5-8. Uche Mba would then grab an offensive rebound and put-back to keep the Tigers within 1, but Piedmont nailed a 3-pointer to end the quarter with a score of 7-11.
The Wildcats would open the 2nd quarter with a 3-pointer out of an inbounds play. On the other end, Uche Mba got another offensive rebound and put-back to put the score at 9-16. The Tigers continued to work hard on the defensive side picking up several deflections and trying to make sure the Wildcats weren’t given any easy shots. Brice Budd would find Gabe Smith for a corner 3-pointer to get the Tigers within 6 points at 18-12, and Head Coach Shaun Gray would call a timeout to give his players a chance to catch their breath. The Wildcats had a very deep bench, often exchanging 3-4 players at a time keeping their players’ legs fresh, whereas the Tigers were a bit shorthanded as their JV bench was playing in El Dorado Springs in a tournament of their own. Uche Mba continued to work the offensive boards giving himself multiple opportunities for put-backs, assists to teammates, as well as an old-fashioned 3-point play by tacking on the free throw. Nevada did pick up several fouls in the quarter, putting the Wildcats on the line where they converted at a very high percentage. At the half, the score would be 15-35.
As this group of Tigers has done several times this season, they came out with grit and resilience and had a very strong 3rd quarter. Both teams would come up empty in their first possessions, and as Brice Budd did in the first quarter, he would begin the scoring for the Tigers with 2 made free throws. Jack Cheaney would add to the total giving Nevada their first field goal of the half, along with a free throw of his own with about 4:15 left in the quarter. The Tigers continued to be aggressive driving the ball into the much larger defenders, including Kellen Braden who was able to knock down 2 free throws. A Brice Budd steal and breakaway would be capitalized with a pretty behind-the-back pass to a trailing Mason Majors for an open left-handed lay-in. Nevada would get another defensive stop on the next possession that would end up with Jack Cheaney going to the free throw line where he would hit 1 of 2. Nevada continued to try and get the ball between the long arms of the Piedmont defenders and Kellen Braden was able to find Alex Ast for the easy lay-in behind the defense. In a reverse of the position the Tigers found themselves in during the 2nd quarter, Nevada was able to go to the free throw line with over 2 minutes to go in the 3rd as Piedmont picked up several early fouls. Jack Cheaney was able to find a cutting Riddick Shook for another bucket as the Tigers never quit playing hard and remained focused on trying to find the bucket with each possession, where at one point they were down by as many as 25, but would get it back within 17. The Wildcats thought they had an open 3 in transition, however, a running Kellen Braden would block the Piedmont 3-pointer, and send an outlet pass to Jack Cheaney who would nail a long-range 3 as the buzzer ended the 3rd quarter, for a score of 35-52, and the only quarter where the Tigers would outscore the Wildcats.
The 4th quarter began to show the wear and tear of a very physical game by both teams, however, the Tigers had much fewer players to sustain the bumps and bruises. Piedmont would begin the scoring on a driving bucket and wouldn’t look back. Uche Mba took a very hard charge from the Wildcat’s big man that would give the Tigers the ball. Mba would end up rewarded on the other end with a bucket from a Riddick Shook assist with just under 4 minutes left to play in the game. The Wildcats continued to hit big shots that almost felt like daggers with each swish. With just under 2 minutes left in the game, most of the Nevada Tigers’ starters would head to the bench as they have 2 more games in the next 2 days and this one was quickly getting out of reach. At the end of a very tough and physical game, Mason Majors would hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to end the game with a score of 42-66.
Nevada will get a rematch with the Seneca Indians, which they just saw earlier this week, as they fell to the Fort Scott Tigers in the opening game of the 4 States Classic Tournament.
For the second game in a row, the Tigers’ offense was held to just over 40 points. It was a fairly balanced attack from the Tigers with Uche Mba coming off the bench and leading the scoring with 11 points, Jack Cheaney added 10, Brice Budd and Mason Majors each had 5 apiece, Alex Ast with 4, Gabe Smith with 3, and Riddick Shook and Kellen Braden each had 2.
After the game Head Coach Shaun Gray was “Pleased with our efforts on the defensive end of the floor, we held a high-scoring Piedmont offense in check for much of the 1st quarter. Our communication on the defensive end was really good, and we boxed out well for most of the night. Hats off to an athletic and quick Piedmont team. They shot it well and defended hard, making buckets tough to come by on our offensive end.”
The Piedmont Wildcats would go on to win the Frontenac 4 States Raider Classic against Webb City on Saturday.
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