By Nolan Epstein
Feeling the pressure of an upset bid by a tough-minded Pierce City club, the Walnut Grove Tigers (11-0) answered the call over the final 16 minutes of regulation on Wednesday as they managed to pull away from the Eagles, 70-56, in the semifinals of the Walnut Grove Boys Holiday Classic.
Despite coming into the contest with an unblemished record, head coach Darin Meinders’ team found themselves in quite a tussle with No. 4 seed Pierce City (7-2) in the first half as the Tigers had trouble finding the bottom of the net – leading to a slim 32-29 halftime lead for the host squad.
“It took us a while to get going,” said Meinders. “We missed some shots that we normally don’t miss. I always tell people that the holidays are different because you’re not on the same schedule. You’re not in school, you’re sleeping in and staying up late.”
If the time of year was indeed partly to blame for top-seeded Walnut Grove’s early struggles, the Tigers did a commendable job of negating that as a continuing factor coming out of the locker room.
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Over the following nine minutes, Walnut Grove found another gear – outscoring Pierce City 23-11 to grab a much more comfortable 15-point lead early in the fourth quarter.
“We finally started picking up a little pressure defensively,” Meinders stated. “I felt like we forced the tempo and got [Pierce City] to play a little more to our style.”
The change in tempo led to a bevy of mistakes for Pierce City as the Eagles committed eight turnovers in the third period – many of which led to run-outs and easy transition baskets at the other end.
“We just have to be better in that stretch of hurting ourselves,” Eagles head coach Matt Street said after the loss. “We can’t hurt ourselves with that many turnovers.”
The Tigers were once again led in scoring by junior Logan Thomazin. Despite tallying just 10 points and two made shots from the floor in the first half, Thomazin regained his poise in the Tigers’ statement second half by posting 22 points to help turn back the Eagles.
“I tried doing it all myself,” Thomazin said of his slow start. “I tried a little too hard in the first half, but in the second half, I just passed it to my teammates and my teammates got me open. Everything went in rhythm and they just helped me out.”
Box Score
Pierce City – 11 18 10 17 – 56
Walnut Grove – 8 24 16 22 – 70
Pierce City – Devin Cox 12, Mason Moreland 11, Hunter Tindell 9, Trey Sagehorn 5, Aaron Garner 5, Donell Kleiboeker 5, Dallas Kleiboeker 5, Hunter Hatfield 4
Walnut Grove – Logan Thomazin 32, Ryan Keith 15, Dawson Meinders 13, Hunter Gilkey 6, Cole Melton 3, Kyle Keith 1
