Tigers trump Reds 53-52, move record to 11-4 on season
By Drew Herron - AJ/NT Sports / Jan. 24, 2014
MISSOURI VALLEY – The Tigers won their third straight game and sixth in their last seven with a hard-fought one point road win Friday night at Mo Valley.
Griswold rallied from a five-point deficit at the start of the fourth quarter and survived dozens of lead changes to finish strong en route to a 53-52 Western Iowa Conference victory.
The win pushes the team’s record to 11-4 on the season and 8-4 in the WIC.
“The kids are getting to a point with their confidence where, late in games, we don’t think we are out of it or ready to fold,” says Griswold coach Chad Rodgers. “You can see it in their eyes, and it’s encouraging. These kids feel like they are always in the game, and always capable of winning at the last second if they have to.”
Five of the 11 wins were decided by a bucket, as Griswold is 5-0 in games decided by two points or less.
On Friday, Griswold senior Tyrel Peters led all scorers with 25 points, and he did it by shooting 75 percent (9-of-12) from the field and 50 percent (3-of-6) from beyond the arc in playing all a minute.
Peters hit his first three 3-point attempts and finished with nine points in the first quarter. Coach Rodgers says his senior guard put in an extra 90 minutes of gym rat time the night before, and games like Friday’s allow those gains to manifest.
“Tyrel has spent a little extra time in the gym after practice, working on his 3-point shot and getting more comfortable with that,” coach Rodgers says. “He started the game really strong and finished really strong…he had a great first quarter and a great fourth quarter.”
Scoring was high from the onset, with Griswold out-gunning Mo Valley 19-17 after the first quarter. The Tigers lagged behind in the third quarter, but made up for the lull by outscoring MV 17-10 in the final eight minutes.
Missouri Valley trailed by one point with less 20 seconds remaining and had its shot at the basket, only to have their final attempt clank off the iron and bounce out.
“We got lucky on another one,” coach Rodgers says. “Seems like we always want to make it more interesting than we have to.”
Griswold turned the ball over nine times to MV’s five, but the Tigers won the battle on the boards, out-rebounding the Reds 27-17. Both teams did well at the free throw line, as Griswold hit 6-of-9 and MV converted 10-of-14.
MV was led in scoring by Justin Miller’s 16 points, and Stephen Humphrey finished with 15. Aside from Peters’ 25 points, Griswold had one other players in double figures as Grant Haynes finished with 10 points. Griswold’s Caleb Schaaf (8) and Jacob Maass (6) combined for 14 points.
The Tigers as a team shot close to a season-best 48 percent from the field to etch out another road win.
It marks a season sweep with their WIC conference-mate, and replicates a similar script to the 58-56 victory Griswold locked down at home over MV on Dec. 13.
Griswold has lost just once since returning from Christmas Break, and currently sits in fourth place in the WIC, behind IKM-Manning and Treynor (both 11-1) and Underwood (8-3).
Before facing the two first place teams back-to-back starting Friday at IKMM, the Tigers will hit the road again to Logan-Magnolia Tuesday for another WIC matchup.
Lo-Ma’s record is 2-11, but don’t let that be the sole indicator of their talent or threat level.
“We don’t play well enough where we can overlook anybody,” coach Rodgers says. “It’s a game where we could be stepping into a trap, for sure.”
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