Thirty four second half points helped the Tigers of Mitchell down the Bulldogs of Alliance 51 to 49 in a thriller played in Alliance on Friday. The Tigers were down 13 points at half but would outscore the hosts 34 to 19 in the second half to go on for the win. Alliance now sees its record drop to 1 and 4 for the year. The Bulldogs did get the win in the JV contest, defeating Mitchell 70 to 35 in a matchup played earlier at the Alliance Middle School.
Early momentum was definitely on the side of Alliance in the early minutes of period #1. Four free throws by Bulldog Landon Crowe and a bucket by Seth Meyring helped Alliance race ahead 6 to 2. The rest of the period saw an even matchup. Six more Crowe points along with free throws by Bulldog Tristen Timbers and Espen Lanik made the score 15 to 10 after one quarter of play in favor of Alliance. Early in the second back to back goals by Timbers gave the hosts the lead at 19 to 10. Mitchell responded with 5 points in a row that cut their deficit to four. The game’s next 6 points then belonged to Alliance as baskets by Meyring, Timbers, and Crowe that increased the Bulldog advantage to 25 to 15. The half closed with free throws by the Tigers, a Lanik score, and a three by Alliance’s Jett Herian. Halftime score Alliance 30 Mitchell 17
Mitchell started the third with a bucket but a score by Timbers kept the Dogs ahead. With the score 32 to 21 two baskets by Crowe pushed the Alliance lead to 15. The rest of the period went in favor of the Tigers. It began with a Mitchell three pointer and then a Tiger three point play that reduced their margin to 9. At the three minutes mark the guests scored 4 straight to make the score 36 to 31. A big three ball by Alliance’s Burt Trevino stopped the Tiger rally but Mitchell ended their big run with 2 more baskets to make the score 39 to 35. The quarter came to close with 2 free throws by Timbers and Alliance ahead 41 to 35. Play was fast and furious in the final 8 minutes. Nine straight Tiger points gave the visitors the lead 44 to 41 at the four minute mark. An old fashion three point play by Timbers knotted the score at 44.
The teams would then trade free throws with Meyring’s charity shot tying the game at 45 with under three minutes to play. Mitchell answered right back with a 2 pointer, a free throw, and a huge three pointer to surge ahead 51 to 45 with one minute left. A three by Alliance’s Lanik and another free throw by Meyring cut the Bulldog margin to 2 in the final moments. Two missed free throws by Mitchell gave Alliance a chance with 6 seconds to go. Following an Alliance time out the Bulldogs had a three pointer for the win that was no good.
Final Mitchell 51 Alliance 49
MIT 10 7 18 16 51
ALL 15 15 11 8 49
Crowe had a monster game finishing with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Timbers added 13 while scoring 6 each were Lanik and Meyring. Finishing with 3 apiece were Herian and Trevino.