NEW CASTLE – The season for Collins’ boys basketball team ended Wednesday night with a multitude of missed shots.
The Titans dug themselves an 11-point halftime hole, thanks to some gruesome shooting, on their way to a 52-49 loss to host Henry County in the first round of the 8th Region Tournament.
“It was an embarrassing performance on offense for sure,” Collins Coach Curtis Turley said.
The Titans were 2-for-17 – missing 10 shots in a row at one point – in a second quarter in which they were outscored, 19-5, by the Wildcats (17-14), who were coming off their first district title in 40 years.
“Defensively we wanted to try to keep them out of the paint because they’ve got some great athletes, and we knew they could score if they got the ball in there,” said Henry County Coach Derek Springate, whose team played a 3-2 zone most of the game. “Their shots just weren’t falling.”
Collins (18-12), which trailed, 25-14, at halftime, was 6-for-29 from the field in the first half, including 0-for-15 from 3-point range.
Things didn’t start off looking all that bad, though.
Collins led, 9-6, at the end of the first quarter, thanks to Tavis Elzy’s baseline jumper with 4 seconds left.
Wildcats sixth man Ben Schroeder started the second quarter with a 3-pointer, and 5-foot-9 Spud Baldwin followed with a layup before Jake Edwards acrobatic 3-point play gave the Titans back the lead, 12-11.
It was a brief advantage.
Henry County outscored Collins, 14-0, during the next 4 minutes – Schroeder hit two more 3-pointers in the period to open up the lane of the Wildcat guards to penetrate – as the Titans missed 10 consecutive shots.
Michael Brooks corralled the last one and put it back in just before the halftime buzzer.
“We took too many quick threes in the first half instead of taking it to the basket,” said Turley, whose team shot 44 percent from the field and 29 percent from 3-point range during the regular season. “Then after you go oh-for-fifteen you do tighten up.”
Collins’ cold shooting continued early in the third quarter as the Titans missed five of their first six shots of the second half, while the Wildcats tallied 10 of the first 12 thanks to 8 from Baldwin.
During that stretch Turley put in four reserves, to go with another who was already on the floor, at the 5:15. His regulars sat for a little more than two minutes before Turley challenged them on the sidelines then reinserted four of five starters at the 3:06 mark.
Moments later Baldwin hit a layup to give Henry County its largest lead, 35-16 with 2:37 to play in the period.
But that’s when the Titans tightened up their defense and began to chip away at the Wildcats’ lead. Edwards and Elzy, the team’s only two seniors, led the way before fouling out.
Edwards scored seven quick points – hitting two free throws, converting a conventional 3-point play, then hitting two more foul shots – to help the Titans trim the deficit to 39-23 by the end of the third.
The Titans continued to cut into the Wildcats’ advantage in the fourth quarter and finished with a flurry.
Elzy hit a 3-pointer – Collins’ first of the game – with 3:45 to play. Then he hit another before reserve Buddy Johnson hit one of his own on the heels of a turnover by the Wildcats to make it 47-39 with 1:31 left.
“We just went brain dead,” said Springate, whose team had four fourth-quarter turnovers. “But to Collins’ credit, they didn’t quit, they really picked up their defensive intensity.”
Junior guard Tommy Williams – who didn’t have a field goal but went 9-for-10 from the free throw line – hit two foul shots before sophomore forward Dez Marshall hit the Titans’ third 3-pointer in less than a minute.
It would be their last, though, as they finished 4-for-27 from long range.
Johnson’s driving layup cut the Wildcats’ lead to 51-45 with 27.4 seconds left. He was fouled on the play and missed the free throw, but he managed to grab that rebound and another moments later off a miss by fellow reserve Austin Perry before he called a timeout with 20.9 seconds remaining.
Johnson then hit a layup with 16 seconds to play before Williams hit one of two free throws with 11.1 seconds left.
Collins missed a couple of desperation 3-pointers before Brian Stone’s putback at the buzzer accounted for the final margin.
Baldwin scored a game-high 20 points, most coming on drives to the basket, and Schroeder added 14, including nine in the all-important second quarter.
Elzy led the Titans with 12 points. Marshall added 11, Edwards 10 and Johnson 9 off the bench.
“I think we learned a lot this season and we got a lot of our young guys some valuable experience,” said Turley, who finished the season with 624 career victories – 11th on the state’s all-time list. “Certainly we’re going to miss Tavis and Jake, but we’ve got everybody coming back other than them.
“Now it’s just a matter of working hard in the spring and summer and trying to improve every day.”
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