Takeaways: Tea Area 81 vs. West Central 37
Tea Area trailed for only 40 seconds of the game on Thursday en route to a dominant 81-37 win over West Central in Hartford. The Titans jumped out to an early 11-1 lead that forced a Trojan timeout with just…
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Continue ReadingTea Area trailed for only 40 seconds of the game on Thursday en route to a dominant 81-37 win over West Central in Hartford.
The Titans jumped out to an early 11-1 lead that forced a Trojan timeout with just over 5 minutes left in the opening quarter. Things didn’t get much better for the Trojans as they would only score five points in the opening quarter to trail 21-5 going into the second period.
Noah Freidel would get hot early with 12 first-quarter points. The Titans played one of their best team games of the season getting everyone involved in the fastbreak early and often. Tea Area would build a 29-5 lead midway through the second quarter and would take a 50-21 lead into the break.
Freidel had 21 points at the half to lead the Titans and Mason Ritter also had a great first half with 8 points.
The second half wasn’t any kinder to West Central as the lead grew to 64-32 and forced a running clock for the rest of the game.
Team Scoring
Tea Area — 21 29 21 10 — 81
West Central — 5 16 11 5 — 37
Team Leaders
Tea Area —Noah Freidel had a game-high 30 points, 6 rebounds, 4 steals and 4 assists. Kaleb Joffer and Mason Ritter had 10 a-piece for the Titans. Ritter also finished with five assists.
West Central — Caden Jost had 9 points and 3 assists. Jackson Miller had 6 points and 5 rebounds for the Trojans.
Takeaways
Sleeveless
Tea Area’s Freidel has worn long sleeves for most of the games up to this point and tonight didn’t wear them. He would end up having 30 points in three quarters for the Titans tonight along with 6 rebounds, 4 steals and 4 assists. After tonight’s performance, we may not see Freidel in long sleeves again.
Team Ball
The Titans played one of their best games as a whole all season. The Titans built an early lead through fastbreak and sharing the ball. The Titans had 27 assists on the night. Nine of the 10 players that saw action tonight got at least an assist or scored a basket for the Titans.
Defense Wins Championships
The Titans have been playing their best ball of the season at the right time. A big reason for that is their defense, they have been ramping up the intensity on the defensive side. Ever since the St. Thomas More game the Titans have been only allowing 46 points a game. Tonight against the Trojans the Titans held them to five points in two quarters and only allowed them to shoot 30 percent from the field. Tea Area forced 19 turnovers and had 13 steals on the night.
UP NEXT:
The Titans face off against the No. 1 team in Class AA, Sioux Falls Lincoln, at the Pentagon on Saturday at 8 p.m.
The Trojans travel to Madison next Tuesday with tip-off set for 7:45 p.m.