A win gets away from New Richmond boys basketball team at Durand

• Joey Miller

Senior Joey Miller returned to the Tiger lineup last week after missing several games due to a concussion.

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The New Richmond boys basketball team has been looking for that statement game, where they knock off one of the top teams around.

They thought they had it at Durand last Thursday.

The Tigers led for 29 of the 32 minutes of the game, but they didn’t lead at the most important time, the end of the game. Durand frantically came back in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Tigers 21-4 to win 51-40. The win keeps Durand tied with Somerset in the Middle Border Conference lead. The Tigers are now 4-5 in the MBC.

The Tigers led by as many as eight points in Thursday’s game. They were able to accomplish their goal of shutting down Durand’s perimeter attack, holding the Panthers without a successful three-point shot. Part of the success of the perimeter defense was due to the return of senior Joey Miller from an injury. He was the primary defender against Durand’s leading scorer, Jake Weber.

Tiger coach Rick Montreal said his team’s effort was much better than the first time they faced Durand this season. The Tigers were able to keep a steady hold on the lead until the fourth quarter. Durand showed its experience, coming at the Tigers with a fierce defense that began forcing turnovers.

“We got rattled a little,” Montreal said. “We couldn’t get shots and we couldn’t get stops.”

Once Durand got rolling, the Tigers couldn’t do anything to stop the Panthers’ momentum. Durand was taking the ball to the basket, drawing a number of fouls, while the Tigers were more passive with the ball. That resulted in Durand having a 21-7 advantage in free throws attempted.

Joe Deppe led the Tigers with 14 points and five rebounds in the loss. Jake LaMirande’s four rebounds were tops on the team.

Montreal said one plus in the game was the play off the bench from senior Dustin Reed. Reed hit three-pointers in the second and third quarters and gave the team some composed play that was much needed.

After Thursday’s loss, the Tigers had to turn right around and play at Hudson on Friday. This was a makeup of last Tuesday’s postponement. Having two games on the last two days of finals week was less than ideal, but it was the only date both teams had available. The circumstances certainly left the Tigers drained, because they put up little resistance in a 49-30 loss to the Raiders.

“It was a big emotional letdown,” Montreal said of Friday’s loss. “We played, but offensively it was a struggle.”

Hudson guard Matthew Spartad scored 22 points, but the biggest problem for the Tigers was Raider post player Alex Herink. He scored 15 points and the Tigers simply had no player who could compare with his physical strength in the post.

Herink was part of a tall Hudson front line that caused the Tigers to alter many of their shots.

Deppe finished with 17 points in the game and Hobbs scored eight points. They were the only Tigers with more than two points in the game.

The Tigers continue their string of five straight road games this Friday when they play at Somerset. The road trek is completed next Tuesday when the Tigers play at Menomonie.

Tags: sports, tigers, basketball, prep