With a roster chock-full of fast, quick guards that can jump into passing lanes and get up and down the floor, the Mount Tahoma Thunderbirds are going to pressure teams this season.
The Thunderbirds followed that blueprint Friday night against Class 4A Narrows League foe Stadium, forcing the host Tigers into 19 second-half turnovers en route to a 77-69 win.
“We have to live and die by pressure,” Mount Tahoma coach Owen Chambers said. “Tonight we lived by it.”
Michael Rollins Jr., a junior guard, led the way for Mount Tahoma, scoring 29 points — including 17 in the second half.
The T-Birds (1-2, 1-0 Narrows) led 36-33 at halftime, and pushed the lead to 56-50 after the third quarter.
Despite committing 10 turnovers in the third quarter, Stadium (0-5, 0-1) kept it close, as Patrick Minzel drilled a 3-pointer with 4 minutes, 13 seconds left in the game to cut the lead to 61-59.
But Rollins answered on the ensuing possession, shaking loose from his defender before getting open at the top of the key and knocking down a long 3-pointer.
“They were in a zone and one guy was chasing me,” said Rollins, who also tallied five rebounds, three assists and a couple steals. “I wasn’t getting the ball. After I got it I just broke him down … knew it was good as soon as it left my hands.”
The junior hit three 3-pointers in the second half, as Mount Tahoma knocked down eight 3-pointers in the game.
“(The 3-point stroke) was off in the first half,” he said. “I had to find it.”
Rollins, who averaged between two to three minutes a game last season, has started this year on a tear. He scored 18 against Lincoln in the season opener and poured in 28 in a loss to Wilson.
“He knocked down a lot of crucial 3s when we needed it,” Chambers said. “What I liked about him is that there were times that they were doubling and switching off on him, and he couldn’t get off screens. He didn’t pout.”
The Tigers cut the lead to four later in the quarter on a lay-in by Corey Glackin-Coley, but Chris Davis’ bucket at the other end pushed the lead back to six with a little less than three minutes left.
Davis finished with 13 points and five rebounds, even after limping off the floor midway through the third quarter with a sprained ankle.
Glackin-Coley, a 6-foot-4 junior, finished with a game-high 31 points and 15 rebounds. He often dominated down low against a smaller Thunderbirds lineup. But his performance couldn’t overcome the costly turnovers at key times for the Tigers.
“(It’s) the story of our season. We’re just trying to still put a complete game together,” Stadium coach David Jones said. “Nineteen turnovers in the second half. You’re not going to beat a kindergarten team doing that.”
Minzel finished with 14 points for the Tigers.
“We had some guys that shot the ball great, but at the end of the day you have to take care of the basketball,” Jones said.
preps.thenewstribune.com
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