Tigers shot down 67-59

Every time Cape Central High got close, Parkway South had an answer.

Every time the Tigers needed a basket, they came up empty.

It's enough to drive a coach crazy.

Central coach Derek McCord was left scratching his head after his inexperienced Tigers suffered a 67-59 loss to Parkway South (8-7)in the final game of the Tiger Shootout Saturday.

When McCord accepted the Central coaching job last spring after a brilliant 10-year stint at Scott City, he knew he was facing a rebuilding era.

But that doesn't make losing any easier to accept.

"This is frustrating for me," said McCord, whose team dropped to 3-10. "I've never experienced this. You wish you knew what to say to make them feel better, but night after night we're going against better athletes."

And older athletes.

Though Central's future appears bright, the Tigers start four sophomores and no one on the team has a lot of varsity experience. That makes it difficult for the Tigers to win, especially against veteran teams like Parkway South, which started three seniors and two juniors.

The experience showed Saturday as the Patriots answered every Cape Central run.

Parkway South led by as many as eight in the first quarter and by as many as 12 in the third. Central cut its deficit to three points on two occasions in the second quarter and to six points three times in the fourth.

The Tigers trailed just 61-55 with 1:22 to go, but the Patriots went on a 6-2 run to finsish the game.

"First off, you have to give Central a lot of credit," said Parkway South coach Tom Sucher. "They're young and they don't quit. When you're up by 12 points, you're not confident because they keep working hard.

"That said, it's hard to come back on us with a press. We're hard to press because we have three guards who handle the ball and we were able to score a lot in those situations."

Arguably the most important sequence of the game occured just after halftime. Central had scrapped its way back to within five points, 26-21 heading into the locker room.

But 6-foot-3 post man Brad Frenz dominated in the early going to give Parkway South some breathing room.

Frenz, who did not start the game and who has not played much recently with an injured ankle, scored six points during a 1-minute span that capped off a 13-6 run. With 4:29 to go, Parkway South held a 39-28 advantage thanks largely to Frenz, who looked like an offensive lineman.

"We cut it to five at half then we got back to our man-to-man," McCord said. "They went right to the post and killed us. We work on our post defense every day but we didn't do a very good job tonight."

"We got a big lift out of Brad," Sucher said. "He came in and did a great job. He's a big, strong kid."

Cape Central was led in scoring by Anthony Harris' 12 points. Mitch Craft scored 10 points with eight coming in the fourth quarter.

Chris Lueken led Parkway South with 18 points. He was one of four players in double figures as the Patriots shot 50 percent from the field.