Tigers play it tough

Nick Ianniello

Mineral Independent

The St. Regis Tigers played tough, but couldn’t manage to come out on top in two games during the Western Montana District 14 – C Basketball Tournament in Ronan last week.

“As a coach you always feel like you could have played better but they got out there and gave it everything,” Tigers Head Coach Dan Park said.

The Tigers started off the tournament playing the Charlo Vikings Thursday evening.

The Vikings took an early lead in the game by outscoring the Tigers 22 – 9 in the first quarter and used that to catapult themselves to the victory.

The Tigers managed to outscore the Vikings 9 – 7 in the second quarter, but still went into the second half of the game down 29 – 18.

The Vikings took another offensive leap in the third quarter, outscoring the Tigers 25 – 6. Through the fourth quarter the Vikings held the Tigers scoreless and brought down 12 points for a 66 – 24 victory.

Zane Worrall and Pat Quinlivan each scored 10 points during the game to lead the Tigers in scoring.

Park said that one of their big difficulties was getting past Charlo’s height, which helped the Vikings pull down 45 rebounds to St. Regis’s 14.

On Saturday evening St. Regis faced off against the Hot Springs Savage Heat in a consolation match.

The Savage Heat took a slight lead early in the game, outscoring the Tigers 19 – 12 in the first quarter.

The Tigers answered by outscoring the Savage Heat 12 – 11 in the second quarter, but still went into the second half down 30 – 24.

The Savage Heat put on the pressure in the third quarter, outscoring the Tigers 16 – 11 for a 46 – 35 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

The Tigers had a tough run in the final quarter of Saturday night’s game, getting outscored by the Savage Heat 22 – 12. The Savage Heat took home a 68 – 47 victory.

Jordan Kinney led the Tigers in scoring with 17 points on the board, Wily Roper followed with 11 points for St. Regis. Thomas Spencer also posted nine points for the Tigers and eight rebounds, while Quinlivan scored six points.

“We got as many shots in as the other teams did, we really just didn’t make as many,” Park said.

Hot Springs, like Charlo, managed to heavily out rebound the Tigers at 35 – 26, which helped them bring in the win.

The Tigers finished up the season with a 2- 18 record.

“We had some good games and we had some rough ones,” Park said.