Warriors drop one late

By Lenny Sementi
Tuscola logged the miles last week traveling on Tuesday to Decatur St. Teresa, then to Meridian on Friday night, and finally Altamont on Saturday evening for the Northern Trail Conference vs the Central Illinois Conference shootout. The Warriors took on Altamont on their home floor in the nightcap and came up just a few points short falling to the Indians in a thriller 62-54.

Brayden VonLanken continued his hot streak leading the Warriors in scoring for the third straight game contributing 16 points on 8 of 16 shooting. He was also strong in the rebounding department posting six boards to the team totals at the end of the game.

“Brayden was really good in all three games this week,” Bozarth was quoted as saying. “He’s becoming a force inside every time he touches it. We did a great job getting him a bunch of shots. He’s so tough to defend when he catches the ball where he’s comfortable.”

Next up was freshman Jalen Quinn with 14 points on 4 of 7 from the floor and 3 of 3 from the charity stripe. Jacob Kibler and Cade Kresin came up big as well combining for 17 points scoring 9 and 8, respectively. Kresin tied with Quinn for the most rebounds with seven, while Kibler grabbed six boards.

Both teams hit an early three, but the inside game of VonLanken and Kresin was the difference in the first. The duo’s eight points in the paint gave coach Justin Bozarth’s squad a 15-11 lead heading into the second. The two teams traded points throughout the second with the Warriors keeping the status quo still in front by four at the break on top 28-24.

Altamont responded with a six -point run to open the third to move in front 30-28, but the Warriors fired back with buckets by Quinn, VonLanken and Kibler to push back in front. VonLanken followed with a three ball, and the Warrior lead was back to seven points thanks to an 11-4 run only to watch the Indians’ fourth three of the period go through the hoop, cutting it to four going into the fourth with Tuscola up 41-37. Little sank a near full court shot at the buzzer that was deemed late by the officials.

The full story can be found in the Wednesday, Feb. 13 edition of The Tuscola Journal.