Grant Shouse has to feel like he is driving a six-cylinder car that is running on five cylinders right now. The UHA coach was visibly frustrated following the Blazers’ 65-60 loss to Paducah Tilghman Sunday at McCracken County’s Mustang Madness.
The Blazers were outscored 9-2 to end the game by the Tornado, who picked up their second win over UHA this season by a total of 11 points. Tilghman beat UHA 72-66 on Dec. 21.
UHA led 58-56, but Tilghman’s Eli Brown scored five points in 10 seconds to put the Tornado ahead 61-58 with 3:09 left. The Blazers couldn’t cut into the deficit thanks to two turnovers and four missed shots on their next five possessions.
The Blazers had one final shot to tie the game late when D. J. Quarles sank his fourth 3-pointer of the game with 36 seconds left. Following a Blazer foul to stop the clock, Tilghman missed the front end of a bonus but got the offensive rebound, which was a theme of the night. The Tornado put the game away with two free throws following another UHA foul.
After the game, Shouse wasn’t pleased with the little things the Blazers failed to do which he says cost them the game. Four fourth quarter turnovers and 22 second chance points by Tilghman were the main culprits. However, he liked the effort and work his team put in, falling behind by 10 points at halftime only to work their way back into taking a fourth quarter lead.
Shouse says the problems are fixable but it has to come soon. The Blazers have district games coming up this week against Christian County (Tuesday) and Hopkinsville (Friday).
Quarles finished with a game-high 22 points, knocking down four 3-pointers in the third quarter alone. K.J. Crump added 21 points for the Blazers (5-8).
University Heights 16 11 24 9—60
Paducah Tilghman 12 25 17 11—65
University Heights (5-8) – Quarles 22, Crump 21, McGee 6, Wood 5, Bryan 4, Shouse 2
Paducah Tilghman (10-5) – Brown 15, Laster 14, Concentine 10, Williams 9, Shaw 6, Fitzgerald 5, Goodwin 4, Watkins 2
