The Wellsville Tiger's basketball team finished out the regular season this past week on a winning streak. Last Wednesday they played a make-up game with Berlin Center Western Reserve. The Blue Devils kept it close in the first half. At the break Wellsville had a slim lead of 43-40. It was only a 46-40 Tiger lead with 6:59 left in the third quarter when Senior Jalen DeSarro picked up his third foul on the night. It was cause for concern seeing him riding the bench. The referees were calling a tight game. However the concern was all for naught. At the end of the third frame the Orange & Black held a lead of 69-46 and stayed in command until the end of the game. The Tigers put victory number 13 for the season into the record books with a final score Wellsville 83-60.
On the night the Tigers had four players scoring with double figures. Michael Johnston had game high 27 points along with seven assists and four steals. Senior Sean Hudson poured in 17 points. Six of those points were two 3-pointers outside the arch. DeSarro added 12 points along with seven rebounds and four assists. Junior Josh Carter had a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Rounding out the scoring was Freshman Nate Scott with three 3-bangers for 9 points, Christian Kapp with seven and Michael Miller with one. Johnston got his legs taken out from under him on a lay-up early in the third quarter and sat out the rest of the game.
The Wellsville reserves dropped the opening match to Western Reserve letting them squeak out the win by a score of 58-57.
On Saturday night the Tigers hosted the Jackson Milton Blue Jays in another make-up game that was postponed twice because of weather. It was Senior Night and we will have more on that later. The Tigers were playing without half of the dynamic duo. Michael Johnston was still hurting from that fall he took Wednesday night. He was in street clothes on the bench.
At the end of the first quarter the Blue Jays held a 19-16 lead only to see that slip away 40 seconds later when the Tigers tied it up at 19 with 7:20 left in the second. At the end of the first half the Tigers took a nine point advantage into the locker room at 41-32.
The third quarter ended with Wellsville holding a slight 53-50 lead. DeSarro picked up his fourth foul of the night with 4:51 left in the third. He came back in the final frame and finished the game without fouling out. Carter picked up his fourth foul with 4:51 left in the final quarter. We thought the refs were tough Wednesday. We believe there were three Wellsville players that finished the game with four fouls.
In the fourth the Jackson Milton team kept it close. With only 0:40.4 seconds left in the game they were within five points, forcing them to commit intentional fouls to get the ball back. Those intentional fouls led to three additional points for the Tigers from the charity stripe. By the final buzzer the Tigers put win #14 in the books with a score of 71-66. The Tigers finished the regular season with a 14&6 record.
Head Coach Bug Thompson was quoted in the newspapers saying “we found a way” adding “the team played harder than I ever seen them play”. Thompson credited Senior Jalen DeSarro, the other half of the dynamic duo as the papers like to call them, of stepping up to the plate. Man! Did he ever. By the end of night DeSarro owned the plate. It was a whole team effort that won the game with hustle, stifling defense and great offense but credit has to be given to DeSarro for his leadership role he exhibited in the game. Without the presence of Johnston, DeSarro played point and did it well.
DeSarro finished the night with 27 points, nine rebounds and eight assists. DeSarro was eight for nine at the foul line. Also stepping up were Seniors Sean Hudson with 13 points and Christian Kapp with 11. Carter tallied nine points. Freshman Seth Bradford contributed another seven and Nate Scott finished out the scoring with four. Three senior players put 51 points on the board and Mike Miller was ferocious on defense. All in all it was an exciting game.
In the first game the Wellsville Reserves ruled with a commanding 59-32 victory. Talk about excitement.
Wellsville returns to action this coming Wednesday evening in the opening round of Ohio Division 4 tournaments at the Struthers Fieldhouse. They will be facing off against Canton Heritage Christian. Game time is 7:30 PM. If you can't make it to the game you can hear it on the WHS Sports Station internet broadcast. Bud, Rodger & Joe will be bringing us all the action. The first collage pictured above is the Jackson Milton game with the Western Reserve game pictured in the second. You can right click on the picture to enlarge for a better look.
Good Luck Tigers! We know you can find a way...
ole nib
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