Bobcats battle Florence's height on Saturday
When the Superior Bobcats played the Florence Falcons Saturday night they found themselves battling against the Falcon’s height. Forward Adam Greger stood at 6’ 4”, while Quinn Smith, a junior post, towered every player at 6’ 8” and senior forward Alex Mitchell stood at 6’6”. RJ Fredrickson appeared short at 6’2” up against Quinn at tipoff. Although the crowd was small, they were loud and supportive of their team, as they shouted encouragement from the bleachers. But despite Fredrickson’s best efforts, he nearly had it as he jumped as high as he could, Quinn reached over and grabbed the ball as the game started.
The Florence team missed their first shot and Ryan Bowers rebounded the ball and the Bobcats took it down the court and Bajin Smith put the first points on the board. A few minutes later, Eric Steinebach scored a three-point shot from the outside and the Bobcats were leading 5-0. However, the Falcons were about to put that height to work. Intercepting a pass, the Falcons scored two points with 6:15 on the clock and turned around again and again leading 5-9 at 5:41. The Bobcats managed to score a layup making it 7-11 at 5:06 and wouldn’t score again until the last minute. In the meantime, the Falcons racked up the points, ending the quarter with 28. Smith put three more points on the board for the Bobcats who ended the first quarter with 10.
In the second quarter, the Bobcats scored a layup and Smith managed a second three-point shot from the outside, but the Bobcats were down by more than half at 4:59, 15-34. Bad passes and turnovers were plaguing the Cats as the Falcons continued to stride ahead, while the home team stayed at 17 points, coming off a layup by Bowers. The Falcons were pushing past the defensive efforts of the boys and easily putting the ball into the hoop. The score was 17-44 with three minutes on the clock. Fredrickson missed two free throws and then a third after a lane violation the Falcon’s part. Steinebach, however, would make three free throws. Then with 56 seconds left to play, down 22-50, Tanner Coon made two free throws and the Bobcats managed a last minute layup to end the first half 26-50.
The third quarter would fare better for the Bobcats, though they would remain down by half, but they held the Falcons to 15 points, managing 11 points themselves. Steinebach managed another outside shot for the Bobcats, adding 3 points to the score board. The tall Falcon players were using their long arms and height to steal balls out of the air. At 3:39, the score was 30-62. Smith scored his second three-point shot and Bowers also put two points on the board. The boys ended the third quarter down, 37-65.
Coming out into the fourth quarter, the Falcons scored a quick layup, but Fredrickson quickly did also. Fouls on the Falcons would give them an advantage to score even more points against the Bobcats. At 5:20, the Bobcats were down thirty points, 39-71, coming off free throws made by the Falcons. Bowers and Fredrickson brought the team to 41 points, each making a free throw, but the Falcons were at 75. Fredrickson made two points and then added another with a free throw. Smith brought the boys to 46 points against the Falcon’s 79 at 2:45. Steinebach made the final two points for the Bobcats at 1:15, but by now the Falcons were ahead by 36 points. A free throw from the foul line at 20 seconds gave the Falcons their final point and they won against the Bobcats 48-85.
The Bobcats lost to Ronan on Friday. They are scheduled to play Valley Christian on Thursday in an away game. They will also play at home on Saturday against Deer Lodge.