Tecumseh stalls in final quarter

By MICKEY ALVARADO

Only six points separated Tecumseh’s varsity boys basketball team from Adrian with just 2:50 remaining in a Southeastern Conference contest on Friday, Feb. 5, but the Indians’ momentum stalled and they fell 55-44.

The third quarter was huge for the Maples after finishing the first half with a one-point, 29-28 lead. Adrian pushed its lead to 11 points by the end of the third quarter and had the Indians paddling fast and furious trying to catch up in the final quarter. However, six points was as close as they would come.

“The big play of the game was when Jake Moore picked up his fourth foul,” said Tecumseh coach Brandon Schmidt. “Him going out after we just had a three-point play, took the lead to start the second half, kind of, I think, sucked some of the air out of us a little bit.”

Tecumseh tossed the ball from half-court to Moore for a bucket and foul for a three-point play and 31-29 lead.

Adrian then scored a basket to tie the game and after Moore was called for charging the net, the Maples drained a three-pointer to take the lead for good.
“We knew it wouldn’t be easy with Tecumseh,” said Adrian coach Marc Comstock. “Even [with] the fact that they’re struggling a little bit...I thought they played well. I didn’t think we played very well offensively but battled real hard. We’re trying to improve offensively, and it’s been a little bit of a struggle for us. We’d get times where we just don’t score, and we’ve got to continue to improve in that area, for us.”

Tecumseh finished the first quarter with a 15-14 lead, but Adrian turned the tide by the end of the opening half (29-28).

“I’m proud of the kids,” said Schmidt. “The one thing I was disappointed with was I think our effort kind of dropped there in the fourth quarter. They [out-efforted] us, which is the one thing, I don’t think, should happen. That’s one thing that we need to work on to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

Moore led Tecumseh’s offense with 10 points while Justin Coffin scored nine points. Mike Evans scored seven for the Indians while Jacob Bloom had six points.
Adrian was led by Brooks Sutherland with 12 points. Robert Schwartz added nine points for the Maples.

Tecumseh lost 51-45 at Monroe on Tuesday, Feb. 2, despite being tied 35-35 going into the final quarter.

After finishing the first quarter down by just one point (12-11) the Indians finished the first half behind 25-18.

Monroe outscored Tecumseh 16-10 in the final stanza to secure the victory.

Jacob Moore led Tecumseh with 17 points and six rebounds while Justin Coffin followed with 10 points and five rebounds. Stephen Bilotta scored eight points and grabbed four boards for the Indians.