A time to honor Titan seniors

I’ve lived long enough to know for myself that life goes by in the blink of an eye. In fact, it was just a twinkle ago from the Titan boys season opener against Rockland to their final home game against Horseshoe Bend on Feb. 6.  

 Confirming the passage of time was the celebratory honors of eight Titan seniors: Michael Barnett, Michael Carpenter, Jason Damon, Cody Nixon, Jayden Mink, Tayden Murray, Orion Southwick, and Reed Thulander.  

 The rematch against the Horseshoe Bend Mustangs began with all the high anxiety tempo of an important league game before heading into districts.  A series of offensive fouls called on the Titans and a struggle to convert at the hoop left Tri-Valley outscored 17-7 the first quarter. 

 Settling in and making adjustments, the Titans ticked away at the lead, outscoring the Mustangs 12 to 6 to end the half 23-19 for the Mustangs.

 Tri-Valley continued a steady pace of scoring and defending to narrow the gap slightly and bring the score to 37-34. The Mustangs, in a state of alarm decided to slow to a stall when the Titans inched up and made it a one-point game with about three minutes to go.  

 The game was at a precarious tipping point that could move either team to victory.  Racing against the slowed stall of the Mustangs, the Titans put on the pressure, fouling to break the stall when it became critical, but it wasn’t enough and the Titans lost 44-41 when the final buzzer sounded.

 Epoch scoring performance honors went to Orion Southwick with 18 points for the game, making a high school career total of 1,023 points. Michael Barnett scored 8 points, and Jayden Mink and Cody Nixon contributed 5 points each.  Rebounding honors went to Nathan Kindall with 6 rebounds and Orion Southwick with 5 rebounds.  

 “Tri-Valley dropped a close game at home to the Mustangs. I was proud of how our club competed. However, we were battling some injuries and it hurt us down the stretch,” Coach Morris said. “We are hoping to be healthy and at full strength as we begin the Long Pin District Tournament.”

 The boys district tournament begins on Feb. 12 at 6 p.m. in McCall against the Council Lumberjacks. Winners advance to the double elimination tournament and losers go home.  

 As the crowd slowly dispersed and the seniors gathered up basketball gear for the last time on their home court, I couldn’t help but think about how quickly it has all passed by and how much I’ll miss watching these boys.