COVERAGE BOB MOORE
Who needs a Tiger when you have Killer B’s? Ansonia’s Niles Brown and Eric Beisner combined for 52 points to lead the Tigers to 69 – 62 victory over northern Darke County rival, Mississinawa Blackhawks. Maybe a better name for the Tigers on this night was Killer 3’s. The Tigers dropped 10 bombs from beyond the arc with Brown leading the way with 7.

For our friends at Bradford and Arcanum I have a friendly warning. Since you have to play the Tigers in the Jungle before the season ends, don’t leave Brown open in the left corner.

Of course, if you like having your heart pulled out of your chest, by all means give him some time to shoot.

That is the way the Mississinawa Blackhawks had to feel on this night. They played a solid 2/3 zone and played… well they played their hearts out, but Ansonia found a way to kick it out to Brown and he nailed key shots all night that gave the Tigers shots of momentum when they needed it the most. Brown finished the night with 23 points.

The other B in the combo, fellow senior Beisner dropped the ‘hawks for 29 points. The 6’3” All CCC player can hurt you in so many ways with powerful drives to the bucket and canning the trey. When the MV zone collapsed to cover Beisner it was Brown who benefited from the kick out pass.

When the B’s are hot for the Tigers they are hard to beat and both coaches noted that after the game.

“Beisner and Brown killed us” noted MV Coach Jeff Vaughn. “They have two weapons and they both played well in one night. I told the kids before the game that Brown is the key to the game. If Brown doesn’t score we can win. We’ll let Beisner have his points, but Brown proved tonight that he was the key. We lost him a few time and we gave him some open looks, but if we hold him to a few points I think we would have had a shot. I give them a lot of credit. They played well tonight.”

“This is the third game this year that we (coaching staff) felt that both Niles and Eric played well at the same time and when they do that we are tough to guard” noted Ansonia coach Chad Cramer. “Niles and Eric carried us tonight.”

The Blackhawks kept it close in the first half and led by one at the break. After trailing by only one point at the end of one, senior Ryan Dickey stole the ball with 2.9 seconds left under the MV basketball after a made basket and put the ball in at the buzzer that gave the ‘hawks a 29-28 advantage at the break.

Ansonia started the second half with a Brown 3 and Beisner deuce and quickly took a 4 point lead.

MV struggled offensively in the quarter, but freshman Gary Peace scored 6 of the ‘hawks 10 points in the quarter. Peace is only 5’6” and if someone like Beisner actually made solid contact with him, it might take a forensics team to find all the pieces to put him back together.

But play like a scared feather weight, he did not.

Peace had a nice drive down the lane to help lead a MV run. After senior Tracey Harris made a free throw, the ‘hawks regained a one point lead with less than 4 minutes to play in the quarter. Peace added a pull up jumper in the lane and finished the quarter with a nice floater over the top of taller opponents down the lane. Unfortunately for Mississinawa they found themselves down 4, 43 – 39 at the end of 3quarters.

The Tigers started the 4th quarter in similar fashion as the third. Beisner started the quarter with a deuce and freshman Jordan Liette made a three coming off the bench. The Blackhawks got within 4 points one more time in the second half, but it was too much Ansonia on this night.

An Eric Beisner stickback gave the Tigers their biggest lead of 15 with less than 4 minutes on the clock. MV never quit and narrowed the gap in the closing minutes but the clock struck 0:00 with Ansonia on top, 69-62.

“A tough loss” noted Coach Vaughn. “The kids played hard but we went through a tough stretch where we couldn’t make a bucket in the 3rd quarter. We tried to go inside to draw some contact but when you’re 5’8” going against 6’6” you usually don’t get those calls. But you can’t fault the kids on that. I thought they played hard. We could have folded the tents up when we got real down, but the guys didn’t. That showed me the character of these kids.”

“Effort wise I can’t complain” continued Vaughn. “We are 4 and 12 but those kids don’t play like they are 4 and 12 and as a coach, that is all you can ask. That was a tough loss, but I told our kids that our season is coming up. I’m coaching for the second season right now and I just want us to improve each game from here on out. As long as I’ve been here we haven’t won a tournament game and I bet it has been 10 years. So our goal right now is to win a tournament game.”

After having a big win as a team last week over St. Henry last week, Coach Cramer noted that Brown’s big shots were a big key of the Tigers victory over Division III ranked Redskins. “If we can get him going and get our pieces to start to fall into place, we can be pretty dangerous here in finishing out the season.”

When asked about the upcoming tournament and the tournament draw on Sunday, Cramer noted that the Tigers are going to have to play well. “In a 14 team bracket it really sets up well if you’re the 1 or 2 seed. The 4th through the 10th seeds are going to have to play each other in the first and second round. We’re going to have a tough opening round game no matter what. I could see us being anywhere from a 4 to an 8 seed.”

With some big wins over the last two weeks the Tigers are playing their best ball at the end of the season. Plus, they have been to the District game several times over the last 4 years and have seen some tournament success.

“We’ve had success in the tournament in the last few years” noted Cramer. “Hopefully the kids will carry on that tradition. It’s a different animal when you get the tournament. You just have to be ready to go.”

Whatever animal shows up for Ansonia you can guarantee the Killer B’s will be in the arsenal.

Scoring by quarters
Mississinawa…12…28…43…69
Ansonia………11…29…39…62

MV
W. Cook – 2
D. Cook – 2
Dickey – 16
Peace – 13
Harris – 25
Hiatt – 4
FG% 37.9 (22-58) FT% 70 (14/20)

Ansonia
Liette – 5
Brown – 23
Beisner – 29
Young – 4
Post – 2
Seger – 2
Kremer – 4
FG% 39.3 (22-56) FT% 62.5 (15-24)

3 Point Goals
MV – 4 (Harris 2, Peace, Dickey) 4-16 for 25%
Ansonia – 10 (Brown 7, Beisner 2, Liette) 10-24 for 41.7%