VERSAILLES – The Versailles Tigers dropped a disappointing 67-63 Saturday night overtime senior night game to the visiting Anna Rockets. Two Tigers’ seniors, Jace Watren and Andrew Lyons, were recognized before the game.
“When we play up to our capabilities, we’re pretty good,” said Versailles coach Travis Swank. “We have a good shot to getting back where we ended last year, but if we play this Jekyll and Hyde stuff that we’re doing right now, we have the opportunity to get beat, so I’m hoping we can bounce back.”
Versailles honored senior Andrew Lyons with the senior in uniform, a first in a long time. Anna was given a free opening layup to start the game, followed by an uncontested Lyons layup, bringing the contest to a halt with the score tied at 2-2 and teammates and coaches welcoming Lyons to the Versailles bench after putting the team’s opening two points on the board.
“I wanted him to have something like this,” said Swank. “Andrew has had some health issues that keep him from playing. He’s been dealt a bad set of cards, and you want the best for him. He deserved something like that because he has put in so much time and effort, and for him to get that opportunity, I’m thankful that he was able to make that basket and participate in a game.”
“What can’t you say about the kid,” Coach Swank continued. “He has done everything we have asked of him. He loves coming to practice every day and loves being around the guys. He takes his job very seriously. He is a big asset to our team. He will do well in life because he takes directions well, is respectful, and wants to do a good job. Even though he doesn’t play for us, he will be missed next year.”
“Jace is gifted athletically, and he can do some things none of the other kids on our team can do,” Coach Swank said of his senior Jace Watren. “He has a gift and we need him badly to get things going in the right direction for us to go as far as we want because he can change things out there defensively and offensively when he wants to.”
The Tigers went on to take the opening quarter 18-16 thanks to a late Blake Monnin three led by seven Drake Ahrens points and five Monnin points.
Versailles, the No. 1 seed team in their DV tournament bracket, looked the part in the second quarter, outscoring the visiting Rockets 14-5 for a comfortable double-digit 32-21 halftime lead.
“Defensively we were really good in the second quarter, only giving up five points.
The Tigers held a 40-29 advantage with 0:45 showing on the third quarter clock only to have Anna knock down its second trey of the quarter to take the third period 11-8 and cut Versailles’ lead to 40-32 with one quarter to play.
Versailles pushed its lead back to a double-digit 50-39 at 4:08 in the fourth. Anna battled back over the final four minutes to outscore the Tigers 15-4, knotting the score at 54-54 with seconds to play in the period, sending the game to overtime.
“Tonight we gave up three buzzer-beaters at the end of quarters,” Swank noted. “We weren’t very good defensively at the end of quarters. We gave up one at the half, we gave one in the third, and then gave up one there late in the fourth, so situationally defensively, we weren’t very good.”
“Offensively, we weren’t very good in the second half,” Coach Swank continued. “We only put up 22 points in the second half and eight in the third. We talked about pushing it and getting it up the floor, and we didn’t do it. That’s on us. We have to continue to get better working at that.”
The Rockets scored first in the OT period and never looked back, taking a 66-58 lead with 0:19 on the clock before settling on a four-point win.
Anna was 18-23, good for 78 percent shooting from the free throw line while the Tigers were 13-21 for 62 percent at the charity stripe.
“We had lapses at the free throw line at the end where we can ice it,” said Swank. “We go 6-of-10 in the fourth quarter, and that’s not good enough.”
“It was a recipe for disaster; that’s what ended up happening,” he added. “We had some finishes at the cup and ball flying out of our hands, not finishing at the rim for layups and then allowing them to get straight line drives right in the middle and easy ones – so a recipe for disaster, that’s what ended up happening.”
Drake Ahrens led Versailles and all scorers with a game-high 29 points.
BOXSCORE:
ANNA 67, VERSAILLES 63
ANNA – E. Myers 26, B. Wenning 15, J. Feroze 12, K. Edelmann 6, K. Homan 5, B. Bixler 2, A. Shappie 1 – TOTALS 17 18-23 5 67
VERSAILLES – D. Ahrens 29, B. Monnin 13, E. Wilker 5, C. Bergman 5, C. Ahrens 4, J. Watren 4, A. Lyons 2, J. Borchers 1 – TOTALS 22 13-21 2 63
3-POINTERS
Anna 5 (J. Feroze 3, K. Homan 1, B. Wenning 1)
Versailles 2 (B. Monnin 2)
SCORE by QUARTERS
16-05-11-22-13 67 Anna
18-14-08-14-09 63 Versailles
