Tigers Lose in Opening Round of Region
The Macon County Tigers traveled to open Region 4 basketball tournament play.
It will be the first game the Tigers have been able to play in eleven days due to the bad weather conditions.
Following the weather we had in the area and postponement of the district finals, coaches in 8AA took the recommendation of the TSSAA. When teams could not play the championship and consolation games by the February 22nd, schools set the tournament seeding with the highest regular season team seeded highest in the championship and consolation games.
The Tigers were seeded #3 in 8AA and were set to travel to #2 7AA seeded Notre Dame in Chattanooga. The Tigers came out and hit two quick baskets to jump out to a 5 nothing lead early. Both teams seemed to want to play up and down the floor and at the end of the first period the score was 15-13 Macon.
The Tigers pressed the action amid a lot of physical play by both teams. Notre Dame added some full court pressure which forced some Macon turnovers leaving the Tigers only shooting 4 shots from the field in the period. With the Tigers only hitting 6 of 15 free throws in the first half, an early eight point lead was cut to 30-28 at the break
The Irish came out and grabbed their first lead to open the quarter, making the score 33-32 Notre Dame. At the 2:00 minute mark, poor shot selection and some mental mistakes let the Irish push their lead back up to 47-43. Staring at the final eight minutes of the season, Macon trailed 45-49.
Even with Notre Dame in a little bit of foul trouble with their starters; they maintained early control of the tempo and pace of the final stanza. Macon missed some critical free throws down the stretch and the Irish pushed the lead to a game high 61-51. With the Irish in serious foul trouble Macon forced the action, looking to create contact in the final four minutes. Despite three starters fouling out, Notre Dame was able to make their free throws and Macon couldn’t get their shots to fall. Final score Notre Dame 70 Macon County 63.
Scoring was: Seth Carlisle 9, Michael Ashburn 9, Evan Perrigo 18, Matt Austin 2, Trace McPherson 14, Tyler Carlisle 1, Clay Carnahan 6, Kendrick Carter 3, and Heston King 2. Alex Hill played in his last game but did not score. The Tigers shot 9 of 25 in the first half and 12 of 32 in the second and only managed to hit 16 of 31 free throws in the game.
This concludes the 2014-2015 basketball season for Macon County. Congratulations to both the Tigers and Tigerettes on an entertaining season.
