Boys BB: Tigers break SLP jinx

Mac Bassett career-high 34 points (photo by Jim Lindquist)

Tiger coach Shane Wyandt played high school ball at Spring Lake Park and later returned to his alma mater as an assistant coach so it seemed natural that he would want to add his former school to the Farmington non-conference schedule.

That tradition started in 2005-06 and until Tuesday night Farmington was winless in seven tries against the Panthers.

The Tigers broke the  losing streak in style, pulling out a heart-pounding 97-95 road win over the Panthers who came into the contest 2-0 with impressive wins over Mounds View and Rogers.

"I had a lot of family and friends there and they said it was a great game to watch," Wyandt said. "From my view it was an intense game between two good teams who like to push the basketball.

"It's a relief to finally beat those guys. They have built a power there over the past 12 years or so. It's been tough playing golf with some of those guys over the summer after all the losses."

The Tigers dug themselves an early hole, falling behind by 12 points five minutes into the game. Back-to-back steals and baskets by Darren Beenken sparked a comeback, however, and the teams hit intermission tied at 45-45.

Beenken and Mac Bassett led a seven-player Tiger contingent who scored in the opening half with 10 and eight points respectively.

Bassett had a dream of a second half, scoring 22 points, including a pair of three-pointers, but that wasn't enough to win the game in regulation. Farmington led by seven points with two minutes to play before a couple of late three-pointers by the Panthers knotted the score at 80-80 and forced overtime.

In the extra session, the visitors jumped on top early on a couple of Johnny Dittman-to-Bassett lay-ups and the strong inside play of Eli Rockett. Again they held a seven-point edge, this one with a little over a minute to play.

Two ill-timed turnovers and a phantom offensive foul led to a couple of baskets and then two missed free throws in the final seconds set up a last second three-pointer by the Panthers that missed the mark.

"I think the big thing for us was our resiliency early," Wyandt said. "When we got down we clawed our way back and regained control. We wanted to use this week as a big steppingstone in gaining some respect and we got off to a good start."

Bassett finished with a career-high 34 points, one fewer than Spring Lake Park's Gary Cook who torched the Tigers for 35.

Eli Rockett 19 points, 12 rebounds (photo by Jim Lindquist)

Rockett tallied a career-high 19 and Beenken was right behind with 18. Dittman hit double digits for the third time in four games with 10 and Nick Varner and Zach Speikers chipped in with seven apiece.

Rockett and Varner led in rebounds with 12 and seven respectively. Dittman handed out five assits and Varner had four. Beenken came up with a trio of steals.

Farmington shot 57 percent from the floor, connecting on 29 of 51 shots. The Tigers were aggressive with the ball and cashed in on 35 of 41 from the foul line.

It's out of the frying pan and into the fire for the Tigers as next up is a Friday date at unbeaten Lakeville North (3-0), the defending Section 1 champion.

"They graduated their top seven or eight guys from last year and they are still tough," Wyandt said. "This will be another big game for us."