28 January 2012

Boys Basketball: Short-handed Tigers fall at New Prague

Austin Bassett
Team-high 11 points
(photo by Jim Lindquist)

New Prague used its superior size and the absence of two Farmington starters to post a 52-37 Missota Conference win Friday night in New Prague.

Daren Beenken (ankle) and Mackinley Bassett (knee), two of the top three Tiger scorers for the season, missed the contest with injuries.

"New Prague (12-5; 4-1) has been ranked in Class 3A this season," Tiger coach Shane Wyandt said. "They are big, physical and talented, but overall, I thought we gave them a pretty good game.

"They beat us up on the boards a little, but the effort was there. We played hard the entire game."

The Trojans led 22-17 at the end of the low-scoring first half and Wyandt was pleased with his team's defensive effort.

"To hold a team like that to 22 points in a half was outstanding," he said. "We just couldn't generate much at the other end."

Austin Bassett paced the Tigers with 11 points. Alex Chadwick, Jake Hanson and Zach Speikers each added six.

The schedule doesn't get any easier for the Tigers (6-11; 2-3). Tuesday night they entertain league-leading Chanhassen (13-4; 5-0). Tip-off is 7:30 at Tiger Gym.