Elkmont will be playing the Lauderdale County Tigers in the Sub State game this Friday @ 7 pm; hosted at Elkmont. Here is a look at Lauderdale County's Area 16 Tournament journey to this Friday's game.
HOW THE TIGERS BEAT ROGERS
Having lost six of its last eight regular-season games, Lauderdale County’s boys felt like they hadn’t played their best basketball yet. And a 7-point defeat at the hands of Rogers a month ago gave the Tigers a little extra incentive in their Class 3A, Area 16 tournament opener against the Pirates. The Tigers (14-13) clinched a berth in the sub-regional round of the playoffs with the win, but first they’ll face top-seeded Sheffield in the area tournament final on Monday.
Lauderdale County responded with intensity in Friday’s 81-51 win against Rogers, seizing control with a 39-8 run that spanned the entire second and half of the third quarters. “They just outplayed us the last time, so I think that was extra motivation coming into this game,” Lauderdale County coach Mark Newton said. “We felt like it was really important to be the aggressive team, play fast and outplay them. We felt like we could play fast a little better than they could and that could be an advantage for us.”
The Tigers’ press and breakneck pace started to make a difference in the second quarter, where they outscored the Pirates 23-4 to open up a 38-16 halftime lead. Rogers went scoreless from the field the entire second quarter and for a span of 8 minutes, 46 seconds overall until Caleb Morrow’s basket with 7:24 left in the third quarter. By the time Drew Newton’s 3-pointer capped the giant run, Lauderdale County led 56-20 with 5:11 left in the third period.
The Tigers led by as many as 38, and Rogers came no closer than 25 the rest of the way. Liles finished with a game-high 20 points, including eight in the second-quarter. Jake Newton added 13 points and three 3-pointers. Corey Cosby had 11 points and three 3s, while Drew Newton finished with 10 points and two 3s. Lauderdale County made 10 3s in the game, including four in the second quarter.
“We just came ready to play,” Tigers forward Jakob Liles said. “We’re winning from defense, not offense. We’re scoring a lot because of our defense. We changed our defensive philosophy to guard a lot tougher. We’d been playing off of people, and we’re so small, we can’t do that. “The run we had, that wasn’t solely off of making shots; we were playing good defense, too. We were pressing them from the start.”
“We’ve either got seniors or we’ve got real young guys,” Newton said. “So it’s taken us a while to play together, to learn each other, to get some chemistry. We just hadn’t been real consistent, but the last week, we’ve just started playing well. I think this will give us some confidence, too.”
Observation: The Tigers can shoot the three and love to run and gun. They don't start anyone over six foot and use that quickness by playing a pressure defense and score off the transition game. It's a good thing that the transition game is what Elkmont does best.
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