Tigers can’t shake Austin

Published 12:00 am Friday, January 11, 2002

It was the largest crowd in a long time for an Albert Lea High School boys’ basketball game, and the Tigers treated the fans to an assortment of big baskets and exciting plays.

Friday, January 11, 2002

It was the largest crowd in a long time for an Albert Lea High School boys’ basketball game, and the Tigers treated the fans to an assortment of big baskets and exciting plays.

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The Austin Packers had just as many. Maybe even a few more.

The I-90 rivalry went down to the final minutes, when the Packers put it away with free throws and left town with a 70-62 Big Nine victory Thursday night.

&uot;We really hit some big shots, but Austin always had the answer on the other end,&uot; said Albert Lea coach Matt Addington. &uot;It was another solid effort, but we’ve still got some major hurdles to get over.&uot;

Both teams had trouble with their front-court defense in the first quarter, which was fast paced and high scoring despite too many Tiger turnovers and way too many missed easy baskets by the Packers. The lead changed hands no less than 11 times, with John Duren putting Austin up 17-15 with a driving lay-up in the final seconds.

The Tigers showed signs of opening it up in the second quarter but, every time, Austin responded. After Tyler Young put the Tigers up 26-22 with 4:30 remaining, Adam Kasper nailed a three. When a Young basket and a Ben Woodside free throw made it 29-24 with 1:56 left, Corey Christopherson took it to the hoop. A three-pointer at the buzzer pulled the Packers within 32-30 at halftime.

Albert Lea took a 36-32 lead early in the third quarter on baskets by Josh Kasper and Young but the Packers – led by Gavin Henningsen and Tony Ball – regained the lead and a three-pointer by Christopherson made it 48-41 Austin after three periods.

A three-pointer by Duren gave Austin its biggest lead of the night to open the fourth, 51-41, and it was 63-54 with 1:50 remaining before the Tigers made their move. Woodside hit a pair of threes and Young put in a rebound with 22 seconds left to make it 66-62, but the Tigers got no closer.

Woodside led the Tigers with 24 points and six assists. Young had 22 points and 12 rebounds. Kyle Schrad scored nine points.

Henningsen scored 20 for the Packers.

The Tigers outrebounded the Packers 34-22 and had 11 turnovers to Austin’s 10. The Tigers were 23-for-53 from the floor, 7-for-15 on threes, while Austin was 22-for-41 overall and 7-for-10 beyond the arc. Albert Lea made 10 of 15 free throws, Austin 12 of 20.

The Tigers fell to 5-6 overall and 3-4 in the Big Nine while Austin improved to 7-4 and 4-3.

The Tigers are off until Friday, Jan. 18 when they travel to Winona.