Slow start ends Tigers' season
|
Red Level |
12 |
31 |
46 |
67 |
|
Leroy |
21 |
32 |
55 |
73 |
The Red Level Tigers basketball season
came to a end Friday night, facing off against Leroy the Tigers
got off to a sluggish start and the Bears would use their 21
first quarter points to stake a 9 point lead.
The second quarter, Leroy came out and
increase their lead but the Tigers poured it on during the last
half of the quarter to excite the Red Level faithful. Down
20-30, the Tigers realed off 10 quick, unanswered points to tie
the game at 30. Red Level hit 1 free throw shot to
give them their first lead of the game at 31-30, but the Bears
hit the last shot before half taking a 32-31 lead in tthe break.
A slow third quarter start for the Tigers would resemble their
first quarter during the first 3 minutes as the Bears increased
their lead to 9 points, creating an uphill challenge for Red
Level the remainder of the game.
Red Level managed to cut the lead down to 4 points twice in the
last 30 seconds but would eventually lose by 6 points, 67-73.
The Tigers were led in scoring by Leonard Palmer with 22 points,
Cale Nolen added 19, with Mathew Bond's 12, and DJ Sankey posted
11.
Leroy would also have 4 guys in double figures with Patrick
Rivers leading the way scoring 22 points.
The Tigers had a great season after getting off to a slow start.
Red Level managed to come back and play some of their best
basketball in the last 3 games of the season and will be hoping
to carry the momentum over in to next year, this year's team had
graduate 4 seniors who will be greatly missed and we wish good
luck to each one of them in their future.
Tigers fall in Luverne
Red Level lost to Luverne by a final score
of 78 to 73.
| Luverne |
14 |
35 |
56 |
78 |
| Red Level |
16 |
36 |
52 |
73 |
Red Level came out and started right back where they had left
off playing with great enthusiasm and the same intensity they
had in their win over Georgiana. The 2A Area 2
Championship game would be another close one where R.L had lead
the 1st two quarters but had a slight offensive slowdown in the
3rd qtr and would try to make another comeback.
Red Level fought back and took the lead 66 to 65 with 3:34 left
in the game but at the Tigers were in serious foul trouble with
one player on the bench with five fouls and another five players
with 4 fouls a piece, Luverne would take advantage of it by
feeding their big men in the paint and shooting great from the
free throw line to seal the win down the stretch.
Red Level would get one last shot to close in on the lead, being
behind by only 4 points with 36 seconds left the third seed had
the chance to cut the lead to 2 points with possession of the
ball. However a costly turnover on the inbounds would give
Luverne a 6 point lead.
Luverne dominated the boards early and and the early aggressive
play from Red Level was reduced by their foul trouble late in
the game.
The Red Level Tigers have had peaked at the right time and could
be playing the best ball of their season at the end and one more
win would send them to Troy University for the 2A Regional final
tournament.
Leading Red Level and all scores for the night was Cale Nolen
with 32, DJ Sankey and Leonard Palmer would add 12 points each,
Jeff Day 8, Mathew Bond 6, Luke Sharpe 3.
For Luverne it was Stoney Jackson who scored 23 points, Brezman
Lowery added 16 and Kevin May 12.
The R.L Tigers will now travel and take on Leroy in the
sub-regional contest while Luverne will take on Flomaton on
Friday. The Hurricanes lost to the Bears 75-71 in overtime.
Tigers advance over Panthers
Red Level played Georgiana in the first game of the area
playoffs, R.L was the underdog losing both of the area games to
Georgiana in the regular season, but the Tigers would play their
best game of the season, as the old saying goes save the best
for last.
The first quarter ended with Red Level holding a 14 to 10 lead
but the pace would start to increase as each team swapped
buckets through out the 2nd qtr and Red level would again hold
the lead at halftime by a score of 34 to 31.
Georgiana came out and made a strong run at the Tigers and
would eventually take the lead holding a 55-53 advantage after 3
quarters of play.
The 4th qtr was a very very fast paced game with the teams
both swapping baskets at a high rate of speed. Georgiana
was leading 66 to 58 with 5 minutes to play but Red Level came
storming back closing the score slightly on each possession of
the ball, off of clutch shooting by DJ Sankey.
Sankey hit three 3 pointers in the 4th quarter alone and help
the Tigers tie the game at 79 to 79 with 53 seconds left to
play. DJ Sankey got fouled with 41 seconds left and would
hit both free throws giving R.L a 81 to 79 lead.
Sankey would get fouled again with 30 seconds to play this time
he would add 1 free throw and R.L would lead 82 to 80 but the
game was not over as Georgiana's Jamie Williams would go the
length of the court and some how hit a highly contested lay-up
to tie the game at 82 each with 21 seconds left.
After a timeout Red Level would have the ball with 21 seconds
left, The Tigers would be looking for 1 last good shot to win
the game, Georgiana would use added pressure to keep Sankey from
getting the ball and the inbound pass would go to Cale Nolen,
Nolen would go the length of the court, drive to the lane and
hit a 12 foot jumper with 9 seconds left to give Red Level a 84
to 82 lead.
But again the very fast Georgiana team would quickly get the
ball down court and inside to their big man Terrance Mathews who
was fouled with 3 seconds left, fortunately for the Tigers
Matthews would miss both free throws, R.L would get the rebound
to seal the victory and hold on for a 84 to 82 win over
Georgiana. Red Level would outscore Georgiana 31 to 27 in the
4th qtr.
Out of the 31 points for R.L Sankey would explode for 18 points
in the 4th qtr. The win was a total team effort with each player
contributing,
R.L will head back to play Luverne in the area finals on Monday
night to see which team finishes 1st and which finishes 2nd. The
game will he huge as it will decide who gets home court
advantage in the next round.
Red Level falls to Luverne
Red Level dropped a critical area game and remained in a battle
for third place in the area. Luverne has turned things
around since dropping two out of three in the Red Level
Christmas Tournament. The
Luverne Tigers were almost unstoppable from outside the arc
hitting seven shots from down town and running away with the
game in the second half winning 75-53.
Red Level went up early and lead in the second quarter 26-20,
until three straight unanswered three pointers from Luverne held
the visiting tigers regain the lead 29-26.
"Luverne shot the ball extremely well
tonight," Red Level coach Fred Kelley said. "We wanted to
primarily defend their big men on the post and when they hit a
few shots it took us out of what we wanted to do defensively.
"We were playing great in the first half until Luverne went on
that run of 3-pointers, and then we just weren't able to get it
going again."
Red Level fell to 9-12 and 3-3 in Class 2A, Area 2.
Leonard Palmer had 16 points to lead Red Level, followed by D.J.
Sankey and Cale Nolen with six each.Red
Level Lady Tigers Basketball on Program 23
Red Level gets area win
"[Highland Home] is always tough on the road" stated a Red Level
Coach, and that proved true for the first quarter as the flying
squadron took a commanding 12-2 lead over the Tigers. Red
Level poured on in the second quarter outscoring HH 20-10 to tie
the game at half time.
The game continued in Red Level's favor in the second half as
the Tigers continued building their lead after the third (40-36)
and pulled out their third area victory winning 56-48.
The Tigers had little to no movement early as slow play looked
to wear down Red Level until DJ Sankey with his game high 20 and
Leonard Palmer's 14 turned things around.
Highland Home was lead by Carnell Bryant 12 and Alzamar Wallace
11.
Red Level Lady Tigers Basketball
on Program 23
Red Level prepares for Panthers
Georgiana comes into the games undefeated in both varsity teams
and could be favorite to win the area under Opp Native Coach
Norris, where his wife is the Tennis Coach. The Lady
Tigers are off to their best season under coach Douglas and are
3-0 in area play. Red Level has one of the most balanced
teams in their area, but face their biggest opponent yet.
The Varsity boys are 2-1 in area play and will face the 3-0
Panthers and could send shock waves through 2A area 2 with a
victory. DJ Sankey and Cale Nolen will need top
performances to stop the Panthers who will have a 3 to 4 inch
size advantage in the paint.
Red Level sweeps Goshen
The Tigers (8-10) got on a roll in Goshen moving to 2-1 in area
play with a tight 44-40 victory. Leonard Palmer lead the
way for Red Level with 16 point and 10 rebounds.
Cale Nolen added 13 points.
The Lady Tigers remained undefeated in area play with a 50-42
win and Lania Paulk was unstoppable down low - pulling 14
rebounds and blocking 4 shots. The sophomore also lead the
Tigers with 12 points along with Erika Crawford who had 12
points 13 rebounds and 5 steals.
B-Team
Another hard fought win for the younger Tigers as the win 59-35
to improve to 7-5.
