In action broadcast last night on Hot Country Z 101.7, the Princeton Lady Tigers rode the strong 1-2 scoring punch of juniors Payton Goodin and Jaelyn Thomas on Tuesday night, with both tallying 18 points in a 48-32 win over King City, in the quarterfinal round of the Albany Invitational Tournament. Goodin, showing off a strong inside and outside game, proved to be a difficult stop for the Lady Wildkats, while Thomas, a player with three years of varsity experience, continued to shine, particularly when getting the ball in the open court.
Coming off a season-opening loss to Worth County, Princeton improved to 1-1 with the victory, advancing to a semifinal date with top-seed Stanberry, set to tip Thursday night at 7:45. The loss drops King City into a consolation with Pattonsburg, tonight (Wednesday night) at 7:45.
The Princeton boys did a lot of things well against the Stanberry Bulldogs on Tuesday night. The Tigers utilized a pressure defense to scramble the young Bulldogs into numerous turnovers, giving Princeton ample opportunities to get momentum. Princeton began the game on a 6-0 run.
Unfortunately for the Tigers, a late first quarter slump that saw Stanberry overtake Princeton, and put PHS in a “trailing” position, in addition to a rough shooting night, doomed Damon Collins’ squad to a 46-39 loss. While Stanberry has lost a ton to graduation over the last two years, one player that remains from the Bulldogs strong play of recent years is senior center Brad Hailey. Hailey dominated play on Tuesday night, scoring 24 points, and more impressively, ripping down 24 rebounds. The 24 boards represents the third-highest single-game total in the history of the Stanberry boy’s program. Princeton, falling to 0-2 on the season, was paced by Logan Dunkin with 11 points, while Blaine Millburn added 10.
The Tigers, with the loss, will travel back to Albany tonight to play in the “late” consolation game, drawing the host Albany Warriors at 9:15.
The Jefferson boys played well in a 64-40 win over the King City Wildkats on Tuesday night, with the Jefferson girls doubling up Albany in the late night game, 62-31.
On Wednesday night’s consolation slate from AHS, the Albany Lady Warriors play South Harrison at 4:45, followed by the King City Wildkats against South Harrison’s boys at 6:15. The Pattonsburg Lady Panthers duel with King City at 7:45, followed by the Princeton boys challenging Albany at 9:15.
