Tigers knocked out by Atlantic in District Basketball Semifinals

ATLANTIC — The Red Oak Tigers boys’ basketball team lost their 3A district semifinal game on Feb. 20 to the Atlantic Trojans, 47-40.

Both teams were close early; in fact, Red Oak led  13-12 during the first quarter. The Trojans however went on a 10-4 run during the second quarter and led 22-17 at halftime.

Red Oak had gone on a scoreless stretch of five possessions, three of which were turnovers, during the second quarter.

“They were able to stretch it out there to a seven-eight point lead,” Tigers Head Coach Brad Schlieman said.

Red Oak was able to cut down on Atlantic’s lead, thanks to three-pointers by Andy Vial and Pete Walker. Atlantic responded with three-pointers and soon led 38-31 at the end of the third quarter.

Both teams were held scoreless for nearly the first half of the fourth quarter. Walker, as well as Tanner Johnson, both cut Atlantic’s lead down to five points with less than four minutes in the game.

“We were getting stops on the defensive end, but we would turn around on the offensive end and we would throw it away, kick it away,” Schlieman said, “We’d get a stop on the defensive end, come down and turn it over again.”

The Trojans held Red Oak scoreless as they scored an additional six points to put the game just out of reach for the Tigers.

Schlieman said the team didn’t want this game to be a track meet.

“I thought we executed our game plan pretty well, we wanted to switch up our defenses and try to slow them down a little bit,” Schlieman said. “I thought we did a good job taking them out of rhythm, forcing them into some tough shots, but the pace and the score is where we wanted it.”

Walker scored 11 points on 4-for-5 shooting, including 3-for-4 from the three-point line, to lead the Tigers in scoring. Johnson had 10 points on 5-for-10 shooting, as well as five rebounds. Vial, a senior, missed out on double-digit points as he scored nine and had four rebounds and two assists.

“It was a balanced effort,” Schlieman said. “It was everybody playing well and everybody playing together.

Vial, as well as Dixon Nelson, Brandon Bergren and Danny Carlson all received playing time in what would be their last game in a Red Oak uniform.

“It’s always going to be tough to replace the senior class,” Schlieman said. “When they came in as freshmen, we weren’t sure what this group was going to turn out to be and they improved immensely over the course of four years, both on the court and off. I hope that can be an example for our younger grades and younger classes.”

It’s Red Oak’s third loss to Atlantic this season. In this game, the Tigers held the Trojans to fewer points than the first two games.
The Trojans were knocked out in the district final against Harlan, 73-52, Thursday night.

Red Oak finishes the 2011-12 season with a 5-17 record.