Game Audio Below:
The Bobcats won the tip and got a trip to the line to start the game. They made both free throws to take the lead. Willow went right back down the court and scored their first bucket as well. The scoring was fast-paced opening up the game. Both teams were moving the ball fast and scoring fast to get big points on the board early. Thayer took a great lead causing willow to take a timeout to slow down the momentum. Thayer was up 16-10. Willow came out of the timeout and got some points back, but Thayer hit a nice 3 to gain a bigger lead, Colby James hit a nice buzzer beater 3 to end the quarter only down by 1, with Thayer leading 18-17. Thayer started the second quarter with a nice three to gain their lead back again. Thayer was shooting nice from beyond the ark in the 1st half. After a great steal from Willow and another great 3, they took the lead from Thayer going up by 1. The scoring was so back and forth in the second quarter with both teams playing intensely trying to maintain the lead. The game was clean with not a lot of fouls called on either team, causing the game to go by faster. Willow gained a steady lead after Thayer shot cold on a couple possessions. The halftime score was 29-26, with Willow taking a one possession lead.
The second half started with Thayer with the ball, missed their first possession and willow came away with it. Willow took their biggest lead of the night after some great 3 pointers, going up 34-26, causing Thayer to take a timeout to try and ice the hot shooting from the bears. Willow had some great three-pointers back-to-back to go up double-digits. The 3rd quarter ended with Willow having a great lead of 44-36. Thayer had the ball to started the final quarter with the ball again and scoring a nice three to try and get back in the game. Even though Thayer was improving on their defense in the quarter, willow still found multiple ways to score. Willow still had a good lead over Thayer, but Thayer still had plenty of time to come back. Willow had to call a timeout In order to stay calm over Thayer’s intense defensive pressure. Thayer did an impressive job of containing Willow’s offense in the 4th quarter. Lots of fouls were called in the final 2 minutes of the game, most of them coming from Thayer to try and get the ball as much as they can in order to make a comeback. Thayer came back and they were only down by 2 with 30 seconds left in the game, close to make a comeback. The Bears persevered and took the win with a score of 60-55.
Willow Bears will be back in action on Tuesday night, Febuary 10th as they travel to Salem to take on The Salem Tigers. Catch the game with the kickoff around 7:30 on KUKU 100.3 Classic Country.
