St. Regis ends Tiger Tail with losses to Coeur d'Alene, Mullan
Photo by Aaric Bryan<br>St. Regis' Patrick Quinlivan looks for somebody to pass to after pulling down a rebound against the CDA Panthers at the Tiger Tail Tournament Friday in St. Regis.
The St. Regis Tigers' basketball season got off to a rough start with two losses at the Tiger Tail Tournament at St. Regis Friday and Saturday.
The Tigers started the tournament with a 32-64 loss to the Coeur d'Alene Charter and finished the tournament with a 41-62 defeat at the hands of the Mullan Tigers.
In the first game of the tournament, the Tigers didn't have an answer for the Panthers' size or press. The Tigers, who have one player listed at 6-foot, were out rebounded by the Panthers, who have seven players listed at over 6-foot, including 6-foot-7-inch and 6-foot-6-inch players.
Tiger coach Dan Park said he knew going into the game that they would get out-rebounded, but didn't think it was the difference in the game. "We're not big, we're not heavy - we're going to get pushed around," he said.
Park said the difference in the game was the Tigers' inability to handle the Panthers press.
He said the press caused too many turnovers, took them out of their offense and gave the Panthers an early lead, from which the Tigers couldn't recover.
The Tigers kept it close early and only trailed 11-13 going into the second quarter. The Tigers stumbled in the second quarter and spent the first three-and-a-half minutes without finding the bottom of the basket. A running one-handed jumper by Nate Cantrell-Field at 4:30 stopped the scoreless drought, but by that time the Panthers had a 13-22 lead. The Panthers scored seven straight points before the Tigers could score again and went into the half leading 18-33. The lead proved insurmountable and the Tigers fell 32-64.
Cantrell-Field led the way in scoring for the Tigers, finishing the game with 12 points and five rebounds. Jordan Kinney added seven points and seven rebounds and Johnathon Kelley had six points.
The Tigers didn't fare any better in Saturday's match-up against the Mullan Tigers. Once again, St. Regis kept it close in the first quarter and went into the second quarter with the score tied at 10.
With the scored tied at 12, Mullan went on a 5-0 run before a Cantrell-Field foul shot cut the lead to four. Mullan then rattled off nine points before a 3-pointer by Patrick Quinlivan cut the lead to 10.
Another 3-pointer by Kelley made the score 19-26 with under three minutes to play, but Mullan finished the quarter on a 8-5 run and went into the second half with a 24-34 lead.
Mullan used a 19-point third quarter to distance themselves from St. Regis and went into the final quarter with a 35-53 lead. Mullan outscored St. Regis 15-to-6 in the fourth quarter for a 68-41 victory.
With three 3-pointers in the game, Cantrell-Field's 20 points led the Tigers.
Kinney had 10 points and five rebounds for the Tigers. Kelley led the Tigers in rebounds with eight. Quinlivan had five rebounds and three points and Zane Worrall put in five points for the Tigers.
After hosting Alberton on Tuesday, the Tigers will travel to Superior to take on the Bobcats Friday at 7 p.m.