Sports
Waterford Shuts Down Tomcats To Set Up Rematch For TVC-Hocking Crown
By: Meladi Brewer
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It was an emotional roller coaster tonight in Waterford as the Wildcats face the Trimble Tomcats on Senior Night.
Coming into the game, the Wildcats were determined to play hard defense and pressed Trimble from all angles.
“Focus on defense,” Waterford Coach Tom Simms said. “Let the offense come.”
The score bounced back and forth between Trimble and Waterford all through the first quarter, but with 5.4 seconds left in the first Randy Hixson shot a deep, buzzer-beating three to pull the score up 13-10 Waterford.
Trimble came out strong in the second quarter as Randy Hixson shot one three after another.
Following a timeout with 5:21 left, Hixson re-entered the game an hit two 3-pointers in a span of 30 seconds to give the Tomcats the lead. Trimble was able to keep the lead as Randy continued his streak and shot another three in the same spot to end the half 28- 22.
Waterford came out of the locker room fired up, especially on the defensive end.
“We were trying to lock down Hixson,” Waterford forward Payten Stevens said. “We noticed that he had 18 at the half and that wasn’t okay.”
A pivotal moment came with four minutes left in the third and the score tied at 30. The Tomcats we able to steal the ball, but Hixson couldn’t convert on the layup. Waterford responded by breaking the tie on the ensuing possession and never relinquished the lead.
Waterford began to heavily guard Hixson and let everything else fall into place within the third, and their strategy seemed to work as Trimble only scored seven points to Waterford’s 22 ending the quarter with a Wildcat lead of 44-35.
From there, the Tomcats weren’t able to bounce back and compete with the energetic Waterford offense and fell to the Wildcats 56-47. Trimble’s loss tied the Tomcats with Waterford in the conference.
Trimble and Waterford will play each other in a heated rematch to see who will take the TVC title at Trimble on February 22.