While Tecumseh came into their game with league rival Tippecanoe looking to hold onto first place in the Central Buckeye Conference, the Red Devils wanted to do whatever it took to spoil the Arrows perfect league record, and nearly did just that.
The Red Devils battled back from 11 points down late in the third period to tie the game with four minutes left, but Tecumseh used a 7-3 run over the final three minutes left to escape with a 53-49 victory on Friday night.
“Our kids came out and played hard tonight,” Tecumseh coach Roger Culbertson said. “Defensively we talked about our effort and we came out and did a good job, and got better in some things.”
“We have to learn to finish games and put teams away with a lead. We need to extend the lead and we will keep working on that. It was good to win in this tough environment.”
“I thought we took Tecumseh out of their half-court trap tonight, I thought we were the quicker team on the court,” said Tippecanoe coach Jim Staley. “I thought we made good decisions in transition in the first half, but we didn’t in the second half.”
The Arrows came out and took the early lead, jumping out 9-3 including a three from Esai Allen to push their lead out to six. They would extend the lead out to 13-4 before the Red Devils would answer thanks to late minute shots from Jakob Prall and Joe Tesch to cut the Tecumseh lead to 13-8 after one period of play.
After the Arrows took the lead back out to 22-14, Tipp fought back again going on a 10-0 run behind three’s from Nathan Shirley and short jumpers from Tesch and Alex Hall. Tipp led at the half 26-24 as Hall hit a runner at the buzzer to give Tipp the lead at the break.
Tecumseh went on a 10-0 run in the third period, highlighted by a lob to Donte Clark who threw down a thunderous dunk to give the Arrows a 40-29 lead, but the Red Devils would not quit. Shirley did most of the damage, including hitting three technical free throws with five minutes left in the game, tying the contest at 46.
The Arrows then took over for the final three minutes, as freshman Darius Quisenberry scored five points, an Clark hit a layup to give the Arrows the hard fought win.
“I am not unhappy about tonight,” said Staley. “I wish we would have won, but I am not unhappy.”
“The times we did miss tonight, how many times did we get the offensive rebound, how many times did the kids get the rebound and follow it up,” asked Staley. “The heart is there, the skill level and organization is not here yet.”
Darius Quisenberry led Tecusmseh with 17 points, Clark added 15 and Conner Henry added 10. For Tipp, Shirley led the way with 18. The Arrows return to action at Stebbins on Friday night. Tipp goes to Bellefontaine on Friday then hosts Piqua on Saturday.
