EXCELSIOR SPRINGS, Mo. – The Boys’ Tiger basketball team traveled to Lawson to compete in the Lawson Invitational, finishing the tournament 1–2 and placing seventh overall.
The Tigers opened tournament play with a 48–40 loss to the West Platte Blue Jays in first-round action. The Tigers controlled the first half, taking a 13–10 lead after the first quarter and carrying a 20–17 advantage into the locker room at halftime. The second half told a different story, as the Blue Jays battled back and took the lead at the 3:27 mark of the third quarter.
The Tigers responded with a transition basket by sophomore Spence Gibbs to briefly regain the lead at 26–25 before West Platte called a timeout. The Blue Jays then outscored the Tigers 8–6 the rest of the quarter to take a 33–32 lead heading into the fourth. West Platte opened the final quarter with six straight points to extend the lead to seven. The Tigers cut the deficit to four with 5:05 remaining but were unable to close the gap. Senior Booker O’Neill led the Tigers with 23 points in the loss.
The opening-round loss sent the Tigers to the consolation side of the bracket, where they faced the Penney Hornets of Hamilton. The teams were tied 9–9 with 2:53 remaining in the first quarter before Penney closed the period on an 11–4 run to take a seven-point lead. The Tigers responded by outscoring the Hornets 16–13 in the second quarter but still trailed 33–29 at halftime. Penney extended its lead in the third quarter, putting the Tigers behind 46–33 heading into the fourth. The Tigers outscored the Hornets by three in the final quarter, but it was not enough, as Penney secured a 61–51 win. O’Neill again led the Tigers with 19 points, while junior Brett Jones added 11 to give the Tigers two players in double figures.
The Tigers closed tournament play with a 64–42 win over the Cameron Dragons in the seventh-place game. The Tigers scored in double figures in each quarter and shot 63.6 percent from the field, including 53.8 percent from three-point range, connecting on seven of 13 attempts. They also dominated inside, outscoring Cameron 38–16 in the paint.
Three Tigers finished in double figures, led by O’Neill with 23 points on 9-of-16 shooting. Junior Owen O’Dell scored 14 points, and Gibbs added 10. Junior Kalib Strickland finished with seven points, while Jones and junior Drake Simonitis each scored four. Junior Daelin Dickerson added two points in the win.
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