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CASEY GEORG Special to the Press
THRALL — The Thrall Tigers entered the season with dreams of winning the District 27-2A title. But, the Tigers’ (23-4 overall, 6-3 district) 38-34 loss to the Holland Hornets (186, 8-1) Tuesday night, effectively ended the Tigers’ title hopes.
While neither team shot well from the field, it was the Tigers who had the early hot hand.
Steven Walker scored six points in the opening quarter for the Tigers and helped them to a 12-6 advantage. Breken Proctor then took over in the second quarter for the Tigers, draining three shots from behind the three-point arch.
When the horn sounded, ending the first half, the Tigers held a 23-16 advantage.
In the second half, things began to go wrong for the Tigers.
Thrall hit just 12 percent from the field on two of 17 shooting in the half and committed 13 turnovers, which accounted for 13 Hornet points.
While Thrall did shoot well from the free-throw line, it was the inability to connect from the field that hurt the Tigers’ chances of a win.
While Thrall struggled, Holland tallied 14 points in the third quarter. Desiderio Cantu scored seven of his 10 points in the period, while Trey Grinnan added four. But, the Tigers managed to maintain the lead thanks to six of eight shooting from the charity stripe.
Thrall took a 31-30 lead into the final quarter, but their shooting woes continued.
Proctor’s three-pointer gave the Tigers a 34-33 lead with just under three minutes to play in the game, but a Grinnan bucket put the Hornets up 35-34, just seconds later. Christian Michalek pushed Holland’s lead to 37-34 with 16 seconds remaining in the game, but the Tigers had one final opportunity to pull even.
Michalek ended the Tigers' hopes of a comeback, however. He intercepted a pass and raced to the other end of the court, where he was fouled. He connected on one of two shots from the free-throw line to provide the final margin. Thrall has benefitted from four players averaging at, or near, double-figure scoring throughout the season.
But, against the Hornets, only Proctor hit double figures with a team-high 12 points. Walker scored eight points, and Ethan Dahl scored seven for the Tigers.
Thrall was in Hearne on Friday and will return home to host the Milano Eagles on Tuesday.
