Tigers taking some momentum into January
The week before Christmas turned out to be something of an emotional roller coaster for the Ringgold Tigers.
Playing in the Mistletoe Madness Tournament at North Murray High School, the Blue-and-White began the week with a narrow loss, ended it with a narrow victory, and enjoyed a blowout victory in between.
PICKENS 62, RINGGOLD 59
The Tigers led by five at halftime last Monday and trailed by five going into the fourth quarter, but rallied to send the game to overtime.
Brevin Massengale stole the ball and drove the floor for a lay-up with 55 seconds left in regulation to tie the score, 51-51, and the game would ultimately head to the extra session still deadlocked at the same score.
Pickens scored four points early in overtime, only to see Massengale and O’Reilly
Matthews answer with buckets to re-tie the game at 55. Matthews came up with a steal on Pickens’ next possession and that eventually led to two free throws by Massengale that gave Ringgold a two-point lead with 1:42 remaining.
Pickens tied the game with a basket in the paint 22 seconds later and, following a missed 3-pointer by the Tigers, the Dragons got the ball inside to big man Luke Rogers, who converted a 3-point play to put the Dragons up three with 39 seconds remaining.
Massengale got a runner in the lane to fall with 10 seconds left, cutting the gap down to 60-59, and Ringgold was forced to foul. However, having only been called for four fouls to that point, the Tigers had to quickly foul three times to finally put Pickens on the line.
Jaden Stewart went to the stripe for the Dragons and made both shots with
SEE RINGGOLD BOYS,
2.4 seconds left and Rogers would knock the ball out of bounds on a long inbound pass by the Tigers. With just one second left on the clock, Ringgold was able to get the ball to Luke Rominger, but his tough, off-balanced, turnaround shot missed its mark as Pickens held on for the win.
Matthews had a gamehigh 25 points for the Tigers, while Massengale poured in 17 points. Cooper Sexton and Alex Otting each scored five points. Jayden
Williams picked up three points, while Rominger and Jordan Wideman scored two points apiece.
RINGGOLD 71, GORDON CENTRAL 33
The Tigers were able to shake off Monday’s loss by powering past the Warriors on the second day of the Mistletoe Madness Tournament last Tuesday.
Up 18-16 after the first quarter, the Tigers kicked it into high gear in the second quarter by outscoring the Warriors, 19-4. Then, following halftime, Ringgold put up 26 points in the third quarter, while limiting Central to just 11.
It was an afternoon to remember for Matthews. The
junior scored 14 of his points in the second quarter and outscored the Warriors himself with a 34-point eruption.
Rominger finished with 11 points. Sexton and Otting had seven points apiece, followed by Massengale with six. The scoring was rounded out by three points from Gage Long, two from Wideman, and one by John Searcy.
RINGGOLD 64, SOUTHEAST 61
Ringgold closed out the 2021 calendar year with a two-game winning streak after beating Southeast Whitfield this past Wednesday afternoon on the final day of the tournament.
Ringgold (4-9) held a slim three-point lead at the start
of the second quarter and used a 24-point outburst in that second period to forge a 40-29 lead at the half.
The Blue-and-White increased its lead to 13 after three quarters, but had to hang on over the final eight minutes to gut out the win.
Massengale had 11 of his 19 points in the second quarter. Matthews sunk three 3-pointers and finished with 16 points, while Otting scored 10 to give the Tigers three in double figures.
The rest of the scoring included seven points apiece from Sexton and Rominger, and five points from Williams.
Ringgold will get back to action on Jan. 4 with a Region 6-AAA game at Rockmart.