Despite being a truly dominant season for the Festus Tigers, it has also been an inexplicably frustrating and even heart-breaking one at times. The 17-5 Tigers are such an impressive force and, if they aren’t blowing teams out, they are in games that are white-knuckle tight. Four of the team’s five losses this season have been of the three-point (or less) variety, and the Tigers just seem to be snake-bit at the least opportune moments.
This week started off great with a convincing 61-53 win over the Blue Knights in Festus, but the week also featured one of those aforementioned heart-breakers. On Friday the Tigers traveled to Imperial to take on the Windsor Owls, only to see a fourth-quarter lead slip away and the Owls mount a crazy comeback to win 54-53.
Let’s start with the good news first though. Tuesday night’s battle in Festus was an exciting one from the jump, kicking off with a wild first quarter. The Blue Knights put up 19, but Festus nearly matched them bucket for bucket with 17, helped in large part by Arhmad Branch‘s 10. The back-and-forth action continued in the second with the Knights putting up 12 and Festus following the game script with 11. That gave the visitors a three-point lead heading into halftime.
Festus was pumped up after the break though and scattered 12 points from five different players to cut into the lead. The Blue Knights put up 10 and were desperately clinging to their one-point advantage heading into the fourth. The Tigers took advantage of that desperation in spades. The poured in 21 points, including 11 from Branch, and the defense stepped up to hold the Knights to 12. Some nifty work at the charity stripe from Branch fended them off for good and the Tigers had a 61-53 victory.
Branch was huge in this one with 25 points to lead all scorers, hitting seven buckets and a pair of threes, while going 5-of-6 at the line. Hayden Bates was the only other player in double figures, and oddly, the only other Tiger to attempt a free throw. He had 10 points and went 2-of-3 from the line. To round out the top scorers, Logan Cash had eight, while Hunter Bates and Carter Roth each had seven.
Next up were the Windsor Owls, and the 16-6 home team, per the usual, was a tough test. The Owls brought their A-game early and went up 18-8 after the first quarter, but that just set the stage for a back-and-forth game full of crazy lead changes. The Tigers fired right back in the second with a 20-spot, 12 courtesy of Branch, and they held the Owls to just 11. That gave the home team the slimmest of leads at the break (29-28).
Festus kept up that pressure once play resumed in the third and they managed to take the lead thanks to a big three by Carter Roth and a 13-point quarter. They held Windsor to just seven and owned a five-point lead heading into the final eight minutes of play.
That set up an intense fourth quarter that saw action at both ends of the court, lead changes and ultimately intense emotions on both sides. Sadly, after rallying for 18 points in the final frame and holding Festus to 12, the emotion attributed to the Owls was elation and the one of the Tigers was melancholy. The Tigers fouled late to try and find a way to get the win, but Windsor was efficient at the line and they held on for a 54-53 victory.
Head Coach Jason Therrell spoke to the team’s effort with, “Just a really tough loss for our team and kids vs Windsor. I’m incredibly proud of their effort all season and again last night. I enjoy competing with my team. We have come up short a few times recently, but they have given their all this season and for that I’m grateful.”
Branch led all scorers once again with 22 and Roth hit a pair of threes to help make his 11 points. Hayden Bates and Cash each just missed double digits with nine apiece.
The Tigers will look to rebound next week when they take on North County and South Iron. It’s a chance for them to fine-tune their game with District playoffs quickly approaching.
