Tribe splits conference games in past week

The Piggott Mohawks have been playing some quality basketball in the past few weeks, and the effort has been reflected on the scoreboard. Last Tuesday the Mohawks traveled to Brookland and dropped a 12 point decision to the Bearcats despite scoring 84 points on the night. Friday night the Tribe squeaked by the Warriors of EPC as they celebrated homecoming at PHS.

Piggott at Brookland

The first meeting between the Mohawks and the Bearcats this year was an exciting win for the Tribe as Sam Yates tipped-in a buzzer beater for the victory at PHS. Last Tuesday night the two teams met for the second time this year and Brookland pulled-off the 96-84 win on their home floor.

"Both teams just shot the ball exceptionally well." Coach Paul Seegraves noted later of the 180 combined points. The real difference in the ballgame though came at the free-throw line where the hosts enjoyed an 11 point advantage.

In the first quarter of play the Bearcats pulled out to a slight edge, and were ahead 23-21 at the end of one. The home team extended the lead to four points by the halftime intermission and went into the locker room with a 50-46 lead over the Tribe. The Bearcats outscored the Mohawks 19-13 in the third quarter and were up 69-59 going into the final frame. In the fourth quarter they stretched the lead to 12 and went on to post the 96-84 conference win.

On the game the Tribe was led by Chuck Rice with 25 points, while Tyler Grubb finished with 21, Rob Rice had 12 and Yates was also in double figures with 11. Rounding out the Piggott scoring was Blake Burkman with eight, Ethan Midkiff with four and Jonathan Wright with three points off the bench. The Bearcats were led by All-NEA Tournament team member Patrick Farley with 28 points while Adrian Blansett finished with 27.

As a team Brookland was 20 of 25 from the free-throw line while the Mohawks converted on just 9 of 22 attempts.

With the loss the Tribe fell to 6-13 overall and 4-9 in conference play while Brookland improved to 11-13 overall and 6-7 in 3A-3 play.

Piggott vs EPC

Back on Dec. 14 the Piggott Mohawks visited Lepanto and suffered a 21 point loss to the Warriors. Friday night EPC visited PHS with a chance to cement a fourth-place finish in conference as the Tribe celebrated homecoming. Before a big crowd, and this year's homecoming court, the Mohawks held on for a one-point win by score of 61-60.

In the early going on last week's game the Mohawks set the tone with strong inside play, and several sparkling assists. Senior Ethan Midkiff got the first basket of the game as the Tribe went on an 11-6 run to start the contest. The Mohawks also set the tone early on the boards as they continually pulled down big rebounds.

Following an EPC timeout the Warriors went on a 13-0 run of their own as they took the lead 19-15. The Tribe responded though, as Yates scored a basket and drew the foul. He made the free-throw attempt for the old-fashioned three point play and at the end of the first quarter EPC was up 19-18.

In the second quarter the two teams swapped baskets with neither squad able to pull away. They went into the locker room at halftime with the Warriors holding-on to a two point lead 30-28.

The third quarter was a back-and-forth battle as both squads tried to gain advantage. During the period the Mohawks continued to get good play inside from Yates, Grubb Midkiff and Burkman while Chuck and Rob Rice did an excellent job at both ends of the floor. Going into the fourth quarter the visitors maintained a four-point lead as they were up 46-42 at the end of three.

In the fourth quarter the Tribe continued to hang with the visitors, as the home team stepped-up the intensity. Down the stretch the Mohawks out-shot, out-rebounded and out-hustled the Warriors as they hung on for the one point win 61-60.

Grubb led the Mohawk scoring effort on the night with 15 points, despite converting on just one of five free-throw attempts. Also in double figures were Rob Rice with 14 and Yates with 13. Chuck Rice finished with nine points, but was credited with several assists as he did an excellent job of spreading the ball around. Midkiff finished with eight points and several key rebounds, and Burkman finished with two points on the night. Troy Hull led the Warriors on the game with 27.

As a team the Mohawks were 8 of 16 from the free-throw line while EPC converted on 5 of 9 attempts from the charity stripe.

"This was a huge win for us, I was really proud of the guys and the way they played," Seegraves noted of the performance. Seegraves added that the Mohawks needed to make a good showing at Harrisburg this week, in effort to improve their first-round district tournament draw. "Nobody wants to play Corning in the first round, on their home floor," he observed of the upcoming district tournament.

With the win the Tribe extended their season record to 7-13 overall and 5-9 in conference play. The Warriors fell to 8-12 overall and 6-8 in 3A-3 conference play with the loss.

The Mohawks were scheduled to travel to Harrisburg Tuesday night with the seventh grade, junior boys and senior boys in action. This Friday night the Tribe will visit the Corning Bobcats in the final conference game of the year. Corning is currently ranked 13th in the state for 3A schools, and as noted earlier, the Bobcats will be hosting the senior district tournament Feb. 11-16.

The Mohawks will close out the regular season next week with non-conference home games against Armorel and Maynard. The Armorel Tigers will visit PHS on Tuesday evening with the senior "B" game at 6 p.m. followed by the varsity contest. On Friday, Feb. 8 the Maynard Tigers will visit PHS with the senior girls and boys sharing a senior night doubleheader beginning at 6 p.m. to close the regular season.