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The best basketball played in the Dupo School District this season quite possibly was played at the Jr High level. The Dupo Jr High Tigers ‘A’ squad finished the season 9-9 and waited about two weeks to play their Regional contest. Dupo’s Jr High School enrollment placed the Tigers in the AA playoffs against schools considerably larger than themselves. Carriel Jr High of O’Fallon, Fulton Jr High of O’Fallon and Waterloo Jr High joined the Tigers in the Regional playoffs held at Carriel Jr High in O’Fallon. All of those schools have Jr High enrollments that are larger than Dupo’s Jr High and Sr High enrollments combined. But the Tigers showed up and represented their school well although losing to the Carriel Jr High Cougars 61-29.
It was obvious early that the Tigers would be challenged by the Cougars size and depth. The Cougars who were 18-4 and the champions of the Tri-County Conference had a considerable size advantage over the Tigers with three starters around six feet tall and a bench full of more size and talent. The Tigers who have been able to match up physically with most teams they have faced this season found themselves in unfamiliar territory facing a team bigger than them and faster than them. Dupo Tigers Coach Kraig Roth said, “We’ve played some good teams this year but top to bottom they’re as good a team as I’ve seen. They have good guard play and good low post play.”
The Cougars took control of the contest early, using their size to work the ball inside and take an early 8-0 lead. The Cougars combination of size and speed allowed them to control the lane and get easy shots. They were out rebounding the Tigers on both ends of the floor, getting a lot of second and third chances. The Tigers never lacked for effort but seemed tentative on offense, possibly because of the two-week layoff between games. The Tigers didn’t score until the 3:52 mark in the first quarter when Tyler Barnes drove the lane for two making it 8-2 Cougars. But the game belonged to the Cougars as they just overmatched the Tigers leading 16-4 after the first quarter and 30-12 at halftime. Coach Roth said, “One of the things we stressed going into this game was limiting turnovers. We didn’t do that and it really cost us. Overall I was pleased with our effort but we just ran into a wrecking ball tonight.” Any hope the Tigers held of making a run at the Cougars were dashed in third quarter as the Cougars opened the third quarter with a 9-0 run. Midway into the fourth quarter both teams went to their benches as the Cougars had the game well in hand on their way to the 61-29 win.
The Tigers had a good season, their 9-9 record easily could have been 14-5 as several of the Tigers losses were decided by five points or less and they had to play without their starting point guard for at least a third of the season. The Tigers also took the Consolation Championship of the Saints Peter & Paul Holiday Tournament in Waterloo in December against a talented field of teams. They exhibited good team chemistry, hustle and discipline as they improved over the course of the season. Perhaps the best example of this was during the loss to the Carriel Cougars as the Tigers effort never wavered. They hustled throughout the game despite the score and displayed exceptional sportsmanship. Certainly due in part to the leadership of their coach Kraig Roth. Coach Roth said, “For where Dupo basketball has been I feel we’re in the right direction. The kids have really improved. If we had played this team in the first week or two of the season the outcome would have been a lot worse.” Congratulations to the Jr High Tigers boys basketball team on a fine season.
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