Boys prep basketball: Tigers fall short against St. Pius X

Drawn up in a timeout with 9.6 seconds to play with his team facing a 51-50 deficit, Smith-Cotton coach Kevin Schnicker wanted Connor Moriarty in isolation on the baseline.

He watched as the first part went off without a hitch — Moriarty taking the inbounds pass and passing it to Donovan Schnicker, who in turn gave it up to the 6-4 forward on the left baseline.

But reminiscent of the Tigers’ struggles in West Central Conference play, Moriarty let the dribble get away from him and trickle out of bounds en route to a 51-50  loss to St. Pius X on Monday night on their home court.

“We got the play we wanted, but we just didn’t execute,” said coach Schnicker, whose team has lost 10 of 12 since starting out 5-3. “We got an (isolation) for (Moriarty) and there was a guy hanging on him and we didn’t execute. You can’t dribble it (away). You got to go up and finish that or get an opportunity to go to the free throw line.”

Moriarty, whose 20-point effort marked his eighth game of the season with 20 or more points, was the only player in double figures for the Tigers, who dropped to 1-6 in conference and 7-13 overall.

Four of those losses, however, were by single digits, which shows how close the young Tigers have been to turning the corner on a frustrating campaign.

“We just don’t know how to finish and that’s just a part of being a young team varsity experience-wise,” coach Schnicker said. “We’re looking for guys to knock down more shots and we’re just turning the ball over way too many times unforced.”

The Tigers shot just 34 percent from the floor, made just 5 of 22 3-pointers and committed 14 turnovers.

St. Pius X, meanwhile, shot just 40 percent from the floor and committed 13 turnovers, the last being one that could have cost it the game.

Following a clutch offensive rebound and a pair of free throws from Brady Ritzert, who had nine points on the night, St. Pius X’s Jake Hamerle lost hold of the inbounds pass and it bounced in play. He immediately scooped it up, but the referees were on top of the turnover with 9.6 to play.

The turnover and subsequent Smith-Cotton timeout, though, didn’t matter in the end for the Tigers, who overcame an early deficit.

Despite shooting just 8 of 26 in the first half and committing eight turnovers, the Tigers faced minimal deficits of 17-10 after the first quarter and 25-20 at halftime.

Out of the locker room, they finally sprang to life. Ritzert hit a shot, Moriarty buried a 3-pointer from the left corner and Indaqual Presberry, who had eight points and a club-best 10 rebounds, scored on a putback to complete a 9-0 run and give the Tigers a 27-25 lead.

From there, Moriarty added five more points, Jon Anderson and Presberry chipped in two each and Donovan Schnicker, who scored seven points and delivered a team-high five assists,  hit a 3-pointer from the left wing to lift the Tigers to their biggest lead of the night, 39-28.

St. Pius X, though, responded with a 6-0 run to end the frame and kept the momentum going into the fourth, where they shot 5 of 8 from the floor and 8 of 12 from the charity stripe to close out the win.