Friday night, January 8, 2016, the Morrison High School gym was warm and crowded, as the TRAC 8 leader from Princeton, IL, came to visit. Entering the game with an impressive 10-4 record, the Tigers opened up the first quarter showing off their long range arsenal, as 18 of their first half points were scored from beyond the 19-foot arch. The Morrison Mustangs were not to be intimidated. They used good player movement and pinpoint passing to find the open man. Time and time again the offense penetrated the Tiger defense, for a back door bunny that enabled them to stay with the Tigers and go in at half with the score even at 24. Noah Hogue scored 14 of his game-high 18 in the opening half.
The Tigers opened up a seven point lead going into the fourth quarter, but the Mustangs refused to yield. They upped the pressure on the ball at center court and made it hard to get the ball in the hands of Reinhart and Robbins. The rebounding game became huge as Morrison’s young Sophomores, Ottens and Brackemyer, controlled the backboard. Reinhart led the Tigers with 17 points, but he was shut out in the fourth quarter and the overtime, as the Mustangs sealed the upset, 53-49.
After surprising Spring Valley Hall on Monday night, January 4, and Princeton on Friday night, the Mustangs travel to Kewanee, IL, on Saturday, January 9. They have hopes of knocking off the third power of the TRAC 8 Conference in one week.
Princeton 16 – 8 – 13 – 6 – 6 = 49
Morrison 12 – 12 – 6 – 13 – 10 = 53
Morrison Scoring:
J. Brackemyer 4, 0, 3/5 = 11
Hogue 9, 0, 0/0 = 18
Treadway 1, 0, 0/0 = 2
VanZuiden 3, 0, 0/0 = 6
Ottens 3, 0, 2/5 = 8
.Muur 1, 0, 0/0 = 2
Klimson 0, 0, 0/0 = 0
Smith 0, 0, 0/0 = 0
B. Brackemyer 3, 0, 0/1 = 6