Shooting woes doom the Tigers at Collinsville

Momentum can be a fickle friend and offensive rhythm can be hard to find without it. As a season progresses, there will be many ups and downs and Friday night was one of those downs. As a team, the Tigers shot 27 percent from the field which led to a 33-47 loss. To put that into perspective, they averaged 48 percent during the season.

From early in the first quarter, the Collinsville defensive strategy was apparent. They played an extended zone which forced Tahlequah to work hard for every shot. With 6’9” Missouri S&T commit Zac Brown patrolling the paint, that let the other four defenders extend out and make ball movement difficult for the Tigers.

Scoring in the first for the Tigers was very limited with Jordan Dougherty and Donovan Smith being the only Tigers to get on the board. With the score tied at seven late in the quarter, Brown was able to give the Cardinals the lead and momentum 10-7 going into the second.

Things immediately got worse for the Tigers as the Cardinals went 4-4 to begin the second, going on an 11-0 run going up 21-7 at the 4:30 mark in the quarter. However, they would leave the door open for the Tigers by failing to score for the rest of the quarter. Unfortunately, the Tigers only scored six in the quarter, going into halftime trailing 21-13.

The third offense was hard to come by for both teams. Tahlequah probed the Collinsville defense for over a minute before attempting a shot to try and find a weak point.

Smith was the only Tiger player who was able to score in the quarter, accounting for all seven of the Tiger points while Collinsville extended their lead to 34-20.

The Tigers increased their urgency on the offensive end in the fourth quarter. Noah Barrett was able to come off the bench and drain two much-needed three pointers, but it proved to be a little too late with the final score being 33-47.

The Tigers were led in scoring by Smith with 19, Barrett had six, Dougherty and Cash McAlvain had three, and Zeke Guerrero had two.

What’s next

The Tigers will attempt to get back in the win column Tuesday, Feb. 6, against East Central at 7:30 p.m.