Tigers take down Mannford for the Consolation Championship at Mother Road Classic

​The Tigers split the first two games of the tournament when it appeared they were lacking their normal intensity at times.

Perhaps it was due to the early start times but they answered all doubters in the finals by playing a complete game on both ends of the court, stymying a high scoring Pirates offensive attack and holding them to 1-14 shooting beyond the arc and only allowing four offensive boards.

The sign of a well-played game is when a team has more steals than turnovers. In this contest, the Tigers had 12 steals to only nine turnovers.

​From the opening tip, the Tigers showed their man-to-man switching defense by forcing a bad shot on the opening possession for the Pirates.

The first basket of the game for Mannford came at almost the midway point of the first quarter, putting the score at 6-2, the second half of the quarter being the exact same and ending the quarter in the Tigers' favor of 12-4.

The second quarter saw both teams play a great defense with the Pirates outscoring the Tigers, but the Tigers maintained a perilous 17-10 lead at the break.

Players were resting easy with the lead, especially against a team that could score like the Pirates. The Tigers were able to maintain their defensive intensity in the second half while putting together their best offensive quarter of the game in the third, outscoring the Pirates 17-11 and taking a 34-21 lead into the fourth.

Rebounding and free throws were able to keep the Pirates at distance throughout the fourth quarter, leading to a Tiger victory of 45-30.

The guards for the Tigers were 18 of the those 27 total rebounds, which was a huge key to the game.

This was the best defensive performance of the year for the Tigers, the previous low scored against was 31 against aundermanned Pryor squad.

​Tied for the leading scorers of the game were Donovan Smith and Cash McAlvain, with 17. Cash also had six rebounds, two assists, and three steals for the game. Zeke Guerrero had four points as well as seven rebounds and three steals. Brycen Smith contributed four points, four rebounds as well as three steals. Cole Robertson finished with two points and fiverebounds, three of which came on the offensive end.

​What's next

The Tigers will play Tuesday, Jan. 9 against East Central Cardinals at the Tahleuqah Multipurpose Activity Center. Tipoff for the ladies will be at 6 p.m. followed immediately by the Tigers.