Whether you were a Nevada Tiger fan or a Seneca Indian fan, Friday night’s late game at the Frontenac tournament in the consolation bracket was an exciting 32 minutes of basketball. With each team coming off lopsided losses in the first round, and just seeing each other earlier in the week, it felt much more like a playoff or championship game with the amount of effort and energy from the players (and the fans).
The Indians would get the ball first and take advantage of that possession to start the scoring. A Brice Budd drive on the other end would even the score back up at 2 all. A defensive stop by the Tigers and a Jack Cheaney bucket would give Nevada the lead for a short time, only to have the Indians go right back down and tie it back up. Each team would continue to go back and forth before Brice Budd would go on a 5-0 run of his own with a 3-pointer and subsequent steal and lay-up to put the Tigers up 10-6. As Seneca has shown in several meetings, in different sports, they can put points up on the board quickly turning the tides and retaking the lead at 11-10. Jack Cheaney would get an offensive rebound and put back to put the Tigers up 12-11 before he would spend some time on the bench with 2 early fouls, but Nevada would hold onto a 14-11 lead at the end of 8 minutes of great basketball.
The second quarter would start off a little bit shaky with a quick Nevada turnover, however, they didn’t let that deter them, as the Tigers put up a strong defensive stop that would end on the other end with a Brice Budd drive and bucket. Seneca would quickly answer with a bucket of their own and continue to amp up their pressure against a Tiger offense that has been plagued with turnovers at times. In what looked like would be the case, the ball would get knocked around a bit before Uche Mba would get a hold of it and find Gabe Smith up ahead for the lay-in to increase the Tiger lead to 18-13. The next couple of minutes would get a bit crazy with multiple Tigers hitting the floor, a missed dunk from Seneca, and more pressure-forced turnovers by the Indians. Seneca took advantage of the flustered Tigers and before you knew it the score was tied back up at 18 all. Jack Cheaney would hit a 3-pointer with just under 4 minutes left in the half to put the Tigers back up at 21-18. More back-and-forth between the two competitive teams would send players from each team to the line for free throws. The Tigers would begin to regain their composure and after some great ball movement that would see the ball move all the way around the halfcourt, they would be rewarded with an open Riddick Shook 3-pointer from the top of the key. Seneca would get a 3 of their own at the other end. Brice Budd would then find a cutting Gabe Smith who would get fouled in the act of shooting and nail both free throws for a Nevada lead of 28-24 with 30 seconds to go before halftime. Seneca would quickly answer with an alley-oop style pass at the back of the defense for a lay-in to get the score back within 2. With 1.7 seconds left in the half, Brice Budd would be fouled and hit 1 of 2 from the line to take a Nevada lead of 29-26 into the locker room.
Opening the 3rd quarter both teams would get shots off in their first possessions but the ball would roll around the rim without dropping for either team. Seneca would get the scoring started on their next possession to cut the Tiger lead down to 1. On the Tigers' next possession Jack Cheaney would drive to the hole to be blocked by a very tall Seneca defender, but didn’t give up on the play and regained control, taking it back up and knocking down the shot. Seneca’s full-court pressure quickly turned the Tigers over, with one of their steals resulting in an old-fashioned 3-point play and an Indian lead of 33-31. The play continued to ramp up with Kellen Braden knocking down a 3 on the other end and another lead change, that would go right back to Seneca on their next possession with a 3 of their own. Nevada worked hard to get to the basket and gave themselves several opportunities to knock down buckets, but the ball just seemed to not want to go in. The Indians took advantage of this short lull time to extend their lead before Jack Cheaney was able to get a bucket and try to keep the game from getting away like it had on Tuesday against the same foe. Seneca would answer this bucket with a 3-pointer on the other end and they now held a lead of 42-36. Brice Budd would answer for the Tigers with another 4-0 run, first with a drive to the basket, and then with a cut and assist from Riddick Shook to get the score to 42-40. As the final seconds were waning down the Tigers were looking for a stop, but Seneca found a hole in the back of the defense and laid it in to take a 4-point lead into the final 8 minutes.
The 4th quarter would begin to show the overall wear and tear of a very competitive game as both teams would open up with traveling turnovers. There were also much longer possessions as they each wanted to try and eliminate further turnovers and keep the other team from having a chance to score. Gabe Smith would make an aggressive take to the basket that would lead to a bucket and free throw getting the Tigers back within 1 at 44-43. Seneca would get a bucket to take the lead back out to 46-43, but Nevada would answer with a perfect press break, with each Nevada Tiger touching the ball and ending with a Riddick Shook lay-up to get the Tigers back within 2. With just over 4:15 left in the game, Brice Budd would find a cutting Gabe Smith to hit the lay-in and give the Tigers the lead back at 47-46. More long possessions as each team made their game plans and at the 2:01 mark the score remained the same until Riddick Shook held his ground and took the charge giving the Tigers the ball back and Nevada would take a time-out. A Tiger turnover would give the Indians the ball back where they would miss the first shot, but 3 offensive rebounds later they would eventually find the bottom of the bucket. Riddick Shook would hit a 3-pointer with just under a minute to go putting the Tigers up 50-48. While the rest of the game had gone by lightning fast, these last 60 seconds seemed to be going by in slow motion. The Indians would answer with a 3-pointer of their own to retake the lead at 51-50 with 26.4 seconds to go. The Tigers would get the ball back but would come up empty on their next possession. They would commit their 3 remaining fouls to stop the clock before Seneca would end up at the line, but were unable to convert and the Tigers would get the ball back with 4.8 seconds remaining in the contest. The Seneca pressure held strong and the ballgame would end with an Indian steal and a heartbreaker for the Tigers in a game where both teams showed up and showed out for the entire game.
Brice Budd would lead the way for the Tigers with 18, with Jack Cheaney joining him in double figures with 12. Gabe Smith added 9, Riddick Shook had 8, and Kellen Braden rounded out the scoring with 3.
After the game, Head Coach Shaun Gray stated “One of the tougher parts of coaching is feeling the heartbreak of defeat with our players when our guys have given phenomenal energy and effort. We played well enough to win and showed big improvements over Tuesday’s game, unfortunately, when the game hung in the balance we came up short. Last night’s effort was one we are very proud of and a defensive effort we can definitely build on. Our guys have really guarded well in this tournament and shown that we can get stops in the half-court. We continue to try to find consistent rebounding with our lack of overall size, but I thought we battled hard on the glass as the game went along against a bigger, more physical team.”
In a more reflective tone, he added “Sports are a great teacher of how to handle adversity in life. We have a choice today, we can sulk and be down in the dumps and just go through the motions, or we can come out with a fire in our bellies, a fire to keep improving, a fire to be our best, and a fire to play “NEVADA” basketball for 4 quarters. Men that handle adversity with grit and determination are going to succeed sooner rather than later, and this is a gritty group of young men. No better way to get rid of that bad feeling in the pit of your stomach than to go out today (Saturday), and play hard, play together, and play to win.”
With playing the late game on Friday, the Tigers would arrive back to Nevada around 11:30 pm and would board the bus the next morning by 9:30 to head back to Frontenac for the 7th place game Saturday morning.
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