Brian Moos / Program Director

In High School Boy’s Basketball action Thursday, Central Lakes Conference foes St. Cloud Tech and Rocori matched up at St. Cloud Tech High School. Earlier in the year, Tech traveled out to Cold Spring and picked up a road win against the Spartans of Rocori, 87-78, on Jan 16.

After a volatile first half, which saw Rocori lead by as much as 17 points, the Tech Tigers were able to close the gap to a 45-45 tie at the halftime break. At the halftime break, Senior Tameron Ferguson already crossed the 20-point mark. Rocori Senior Jack Boos, averaging 28 points a game, was well under double-digits.

The second half was back and forth throughout, with runs moving in favor of Rocori and then back to Tech in a balanced fashion. The Tigers continued to be led by the leading scorer in the state of Minnesota, Tameron Ferguson, who eclipsed his nightly average of 35 points early into the second half. The Spartans of Rocori would see a trio of upperclassmen push the pace offensively.

Jack Boos would wake up from his quiet first to eventually finish with 22 points. Running the point for the Spartans, Junior T.J. Starkey, would finish the game with 22 as well, spreading the floor with three-pointers and attacking the rim. The Tigers could not handle the play of Junior Grant Tylutki at any point in the night. Tylutki averaged less than 12 points a game heading into the Thursday night tilt. He would finish the game with 25, as even though he is shorter than a typical inside player, he was a force driving to the rim, having a career night at the rim and free-throw line.

The Tigers would have the game get away from their grasp in the last four minutes of the second half. With their team offense slowing down, outside of Ferguson, they got down by a five-point deficit late and couldn’t climb out of it. Outside of Ferguson, there was one other double-digit point scorer for the Tigers, Senior Ismael Traore, who tallied ten points and fouled out of the game late. The only other Tiger that would come close to that mark was Senior Palmer Baynes, who finished with nine points.

After multiple free-throw line trips for Boos, Starkey, and Tylutki, and inconsistent long-range attempts from the Tigers trying to get the game back to a tie, The Spartans would avenge the road win the Tigers picked up in January, surprising the Tigers by a final score of 87-85.

Up next for the Tigers is a home game against Fergus Falls on Monday the 26th. You can listen to that matchup, along with many more St. Cloud Tech Tiger and St. Cloud Crush sporting events on your home for Tiger and Crush athletics, 97.5 FM RadioX.