By: Quinn Sweeney
The Lake City Tigers capped off 2008 with a thrilling 58-51 triumph over Ellsworth (Wis.) avenging a one-point loss in the season opener between the two squads.
The Tigers came out with a high level intensity and it helped propel them to an 8-2 lead three minutes into the contest. After the Panthers closed to within 12-8 at the 12 minute mark, the Tigers exploded for an 11-2 run. Drew Swanson spearheaded the attack, scoring eight of his game-high 19 points in a three minute span, giving the Tigers their largest lead of the first half at 23-10. Lake City then went on a five minute scoring drought, committing six turnovers, which allowed the Panthers to counter with a 9-0 run to close the gap to four points. For the second straight night, two free throws by Zach Brusse ignited an 8-0 scoring run for the Tigers, capped by Travis Heitman's third triple of the first half. The teams then exchanged baskets and with just one second remaining in the first half, Travis Bremer found Swanson underneath the basket for a shot attempt at the buzzer, but it did not fall and the Tigers led 35-25 at the break.
Lake City struggled coming out of the gate in the second half, as they misfired on their first seven field goal attempts. A lay-up by Austin Gilles and a nifty pull up jump shot off the glass by Elliot Grimley pushed the Tigers to a 39-32 advantage with 13:41 to play in the contest. Ellsworth countered with an 8-1 run and tied the game at 40 with 10 minutes remaining. Swanson then took over, scoring three baskets in a row for the home squad, but the Panthers were able to nail a triple to make it 46-43 Tigers with seven minutes to go. On the next Tigers possession, Grimley missed a three-pointer, but Gilles made an incredible play to tip the ball in the hoop, which seemed to put momentum back on Lake City's side.
However, Nick Niedfeldt, who was the hero of the previous game between these two squads, then drained two straight trifectas to give the Panthers their first lead of the ball game at 49-48 with 4:37 to play. After a missed shot by the Tigers and two free throws by the Panthers, Heitman buried arguably the biggest shot of the night, his fourth triple, to knot the score at 51 with four minutes to play.
"I was pleased with our ability to keep our poise under pressure," said coach Shawn Sweeney. "Heitman had the hot hand all night and he was able to knock down that shot which was huge for us," he said.
Gilles then took over and dominated the last two minutes of the game. He converted one of two free throws with 2:15 to play, giving the Tigers the lead back. Then, he rebounded a missed shot by Ellsworth and was able to put back his own miss on the offensive end to stretch the Tigers lead to three points with 1:39 to play. On the ensuing possession, he came up with a key steal and Grimley drilled two free throws to push the lead to five points, 56-51 with 55 seconds to play. Gilles then recorded another steal and knocked down two shots at the charity stripe to account for the final margin.
Lake City was led by Swanson's 19 points and 15 rebounds. Heitman added career highs in points (18) and rebounds (10), to give the Tigers two double-doubles on the evening. Heitman also limited the Panthers leading scorer, Drew Hipple to eight points, half his season average. Austin Gilles nearly missed a double-double scoring 11 points and grabbing nine rebounds. Grimley netted four points, grabbed five rebounds and had four assists. Andrew Pyle scored four points, had three rebounds, three assists, and three steals. Brusse accounted for the other two points for the Tigers.
"The kids played with a lot of intensity and made some big plays down the stretch to help get the win," coach Sweeney added.
Lake City held a 46-35 rebounding advantage over the Panthers, and out-scored them 16-7 at the free throw line. The Tigers attacked the glass hard in the contest, going to the line 27 times. Swanson converted seven of his 12 attempts at the line.
With the win, the Tigers improve to 3-2 on the year and 3-0 on their home floor. The next action will be on Friday evening as Lake City plays host to rival Goodhue, with the ninth grade starting at 4:30 p.m. On Saturday, Lake City will host Le-Roy Ostrander in a girls-boys doubleheader, with the girls tipping at 3:00 p.m., and the boys at 5:00 p.m.
