Tuscola boys grab second victory during Christmas tourney

5 days ago 2

Jan. 7—Tuscola boys' basketball earned its second win of the season during a tough Christmas break tourney.

"Any time you can get a win, no matter how it is, it helps you build for the future. Any type of wins for us are good, and that's what they have to learn from," Tuscola coach Nathan Messer said.

The Mountaineers competed in a tournament at North Henderson, getting to face three pretty different squads.

"You're playing teams that you never see. You get to see different teams ... They're a different style of play. And our kids will remember that for the rest of their lives," Messer said.

Tuscola fielded their own variety to boot.

"We learned a lot. We had some kids who were not able to be there because they're doing stuff with their parents and going on vacation. So different people got to play, which is great. That's what Christmas tournaments are about. Our kids enjoyed it," Messer said.

Despite that, they still had decent player turnout.

"I was excited that we had as many people as we had shown up. It's Christmas time. People go places, but that's a testament to them seeing that we're trying to change the landscape and build for the future," Messer said.

The first game was against East Forsyth from down in Georgia. The Broncos hold a 12-4 record at the 4A level in Georgia.

The Mountaineers struggled against the great opposition, falling 95-35.

"They're really good. They've got kids who are going to play college ball, and being able to just go out there and play with them and learn how you play at that level is really good for us. That's a learning experience in itself," Messer said.

In the second game of the tournament, the Mountaineers faced off against Carolina Day, falling in a tight 79-72 game.

To close out the tournament, Tuscola battled the Northside Christian Academy Crusaders.

Tuscola got off to a slow start, possibly attributable to a 9 a.m. tipoff time.

"We get up early, get over there and you're in a gym with like five people. I think that had a lot to do with it," Messer said.

At one point in the second quarter, the Mountaineers trailed by 20 points. Despite the slow start, Tuscola turned it around — dominating the second quarter before grabbing its second win of the season.

"They could've quit. But they kept battling. We scored 37 points in that second quarter and just took over the lead and changed the whole landscape of how we were playing,' Messer said.

The win sets the Mountaineers up with momentum as Tuscola heads into the second half of the conference slate.

"We've got to take it one game at a time," Messer said. "That's the only way we can do it. We break it down from that to one quarter at a time. That's what we have to do. You can't look ahead at all. You just have to take it one day at a time. Our conference is extremely good."

Read Entire Article