Rakai Gantt led The Tigers seventh grade team with 9 points. (Photo by Gannon Boone)
January 26, 2018 — The Tigers seventh-grade basketball hosted the Oak Grove Panthers Wednesday, Jan. 17.
The Panthers came out strong by slicing through the Tiger’s defense with quick and easy lay-ups, forcing Excelsior Springs coach, Keith Dolsky, to call a 30-second timeout.
The defense returned from the timeout focused on closing the lanes, keeping the Panthers scoreless for the rest of the first quarter. Oak Grove’s defense was ready for the fight and kept the Tigers scoreless the whole first quarter.
Excelsior Springs had to step up their game offensively in the second quarter. They brought the heat by destroying the Panther’s lead when Rakai Gantt scored the Tiger’s first points, leaving them with a total of 9 points finishing up the first half.
The Tigers kept their defense strong in the lanes proving to the Panthers that they weren’t shy to take charges and fight for the win. Bad shot selections, and incomplete plays put the Panthers behind by 3 in a 9-6 Tiger lead.
The rest of the game was full of timeouts for the Panthers. The Panthers were unable to break down the Tiger defense, and couldn’t convert anything to the scoreboard. The Tigers won the game with a final score of 31-11.
Gantt led the team with 9 total points, Brendan Blackburn, Lucas Dillman, Colson Moore and Blake Barber scored 4 points each.