Tiger boys defeat VC, lose next 3 games

Against Valley Christian on Feb. 1, Odessa held on to the win as the Panthers put forth a last quarter surge that nearly upset the Tigers, who had led throughout the game. As it turned out, the Panthers fell short by only two points. Collin Martin was back in the lineup and led the Tiger offense with 15 points. Jacob Scrupps had 14 and Nathan Carstensen 13 for a balanced attack assisted by several other players.

VC 11 10 13 21 55

Odessa 19 13 16 9 57

In rebounding, Carstensen was the team leader with nine.

On Feb. 2, the Odessa boys traveled to Wellpinit. Scoring in double figures were Daeton Deife with 19 points, Martin with 17, Carstensen with 13 and Scrupps with 10.

Wellp 23 11 21 18 73

Odessa 16 23 12 18 69

Scrupps and Carstensen led the rebounding with six each.

On Thursday, Feb. 3, the boys faced Almira-Coulee-Hartline in a makeup game. Playing their third game in as many days, the Odessa players looked like they needed a rest break. ACH's 6'3" senior Reece Isaak dominated under the basket, leaving Odessa little room to grab rebounds or score inside the key. Deife led the Odessa scoring with only eight points.

ACH 22 35 9 0 66

Odessa 10 6 12 9 37

Gage Starkel's three rebounds were the most for any Tiger.

Saturday's varsity game against Oakesdale was basically a repeat of the ACH game, absent the dominating center. Shots taken by the Tigers simply refused to fall through the net. One again the high scorer for Odessa, Carstensen, had only eight points.

Oakesd. 15 23 16 15 69

Odessa 8 10 10 10 38

Starkel again led the rebounding, pulling down eight. Turnovers were rampant against both ACH and Oakesdale.

The Tiger boys finish the regular season with a record of 6-12 overall and 5-6 in league play.