Bobcats notch wins at Tip Off

As anticipated, good things are in the works for the young Superior Bobcats and Lady Bobcats who each split their two games at the Hamilton Tip-off basketball tournament this past weekend.

The boys opened their part of the round-robin tourney with a down-to-the-wire 47-44 win over always tough Drummond that was decided by three Superior free throws in the final minute of play.  On day two of the tournament at Hamilton High the boys ran into another traditional power, Valley Christian, and were on the losing end of another nail-biter, falling to the Eagles 38-35. 

The Lady Bobcats lost their opener to Drummond 25-23, then faced Valley Christian on Saturday and sent the Lady Eagles home with a lopsided 67-21 win over the Missoula-based school. 

Even in the narrow losses, things are looking up for the mostly youthful Bobcats and Lady Bobcats. 

In the boys’ opener with Drummond, the Trojans took an early 12-6 lead at the end of the first quarter, then held on for a 23-18 lead at halftime. 

It may have been a bit of first game jitters for the rapidly-maturing, sophomore-dominated Bobcats in the first half, who got 12 first half points from 6-5 sophomore post Landon Richards, who was also solid on defense. 

They also got 11 points from quick point guard Gannon Quinlan, another of the super sophs who drained three treys to go with a pair of free throws in a third quarter outburst that put the Bobcats in the lead 35-33. 

In the deciding fourth quarter, Richards swatted a Drummond shot after the Bobcats upped their lead to 40-33. 

Drummond then went on a free-throw fueled run that helped pull them into a 41-41 tie with 1:54 left in regulation in a game that had overtime written all over it.  Shortly after the tie, Richards was fouled and sank both of the charity throws to put Superior back on top, 43-41.  Then, with one minute to play, Richards drew his fifth foul and was forced to the bench. 

However, after Drummond hit a solo free throw to make it 43-42, Conrad Talbot sank a single free throw for the Bobcats to push the lead back to 44-42.  Drummond hit a two-pointer to tie the score at 44, but a hard foul on Quinlan sent him to the line for two free throws, which he calmly sank.  The Cats added another charity toss with time running out to run their razor thin lead to 47-44 as time ran out. 

Richards finished with a team high 19 points, while Quinlan tallied 16 in the Superior win. 

Then it was on to Saturday night against another tough team, the Valley Christian Eagles.  Superior escaped the first quarter with a 12-10 lead, then stretched it to 22-18 at the half. 

Both teams scored 11 points in the third quarter, leaving the Bobcats with a 33-29 lead heading into the fourth quarter.  Valley drained a three with 6:42 to playing pulling them within one at 33-32.  They followed that with a two-pointer to take a 34-33 lead.  

Logan Merrill hit a two-pointer for the Bobcats a short time later, putting them back on top, 35-34.  Valley then hit a pair of two-pointers in the last two minutes of play to grab a 38-35 lead with time running out. 

A last second three-pointer by the Cats was off the mark, leaving Drummond with the 38-35 win.  Richards, Quinlan and Merrill had eight points each for the Bobcats. 

Earlier on Saturday, the Lady Bobcats, who were coming off a heart-breaking, two-point loss to Drummond in their opener, took it out on the Valley Christian Lady Eagles, jumping out to a 13-4 first quarter lead and never looking back. 

Superior poured it on in the second quarter, outscoring the Lady Eagles 23-4 to take a commanding 37-8 halftime lead.  Senior Braelyn Mangold racked up 10 points in the first half, while backcourt teammate Maryisa Swope had eight. 

It was more bonus playing time for Superior’s reserves in the fourth quarter, having run the lead to 58-12 at the end of the third quarter as the Lady Bobcats coasted to the 67-21 win. 

In their game against Drummond, the game came down to a pair of missed free throws that left the Lady Trojans leading 25-23 with nine seconds to play.  Superior sophomore Josie Crabb grabbed the rebound on the second missed free throw, drove the length of the floor and put up a shot that would have sent the game to overtime just missed its mark, leaving the Drummond lead intact as time expired. 

Crabb led the Cats in scoring against Drummond with seven points, while teammate Makenzie Reum chipped in six. 

“Drummond is a good team with very talented players,” said Superior head coach Jeff Schultz. “I was very happy with our defensive effort. We need to get better on offense (which they did the next night against Valley), but I hope that comes with some more game time”. 

Next up for the Bobcats and Lady Bobcats is a home game this Thursday (Dec 12) when they will host a pair of 1-1 teams from Hot Springs at Superior High.