The Collinsville Pirates and the Tioga Bulldogs boys basketball teams met on the hardwood for the first time of the year, with the Pirates taking the district matchup 51-36.
The Pirates came out firing on all cylinders, taking an early lead and never looking back to beat the rival Bulldogs by double digits.
“We brought the intensity tonight, and that was great to see,” said Clint Davidson, Collinsville head boys basketball coach. “Our defense was good, and we put pressure on them, and I think that got to them. You can see we didn’t score a lot of points, but we held them to a low number, and that’s our whole motto, playing defense.”
Collinsville opened the contest, outscoring Tioga 15-6 in the first quarter.
The Pirates extended their lead in the second quarter with a 16-11 run, sending the two teams into the half with Collinsville leading by 14 points.
Collinsville continued to build their lead in the second half behind a 15-8 run in the third quarter, holding a 46-25 lead as the game entered the final quarter.
The Bulldogs won the scoring battle in the fourth quarter, outscoring Collinsville 11-5, but the Pirates held on to win 51-36.
Senior guard Chad Davidson led Collinsville on the offensive end with 29 points, followed by sophomore guard Caysen Schafer, who finished with 9 points.
“My dad always says defense turns into offense, so we always try to use that, and our transition game is key,” Chad said. “We love to get out and run and spread the ball around. We also run pick and rolls for our big man, and we have a bunch of guys that can feed off that.”
Senior forward Ryder Robinson, who anchored Collinsville’s paint defense, echoed his teammate’s and coach’s sentiments regarding the Pirates’ defensive performance.
“I like to set the intensity on defense, moving around and trying to get blocks, but we have a lot of athletes on defense that like to fly around and get after the ball.”
The win brings Collinsville’s overall record to 11-7, but Clint said there’s still room for the Pirates to continue to improve as they hit the home stretch of the regular season.
“I tell them all the time not to take anything for granted because our entire district is tough,” he said. “We want to grow from each game and learn from them, avoiding cheap fouls, having good ball movement, and knowing how to keep working as a team.”
On the opposing bench, Stephen Fewell, Tioga head boys basketball coach, said he was proud of his team’s effort despite leaving with the loss.
“It was a very physical game, [but] the guys played through it and gave everything they had,” he said.
The loss brought Tioga’s overall record to 9-10, and Fewell emphasized that he hopes the contest serves as a reminder for the Bulldogs.
“We understand that we are the smallest team in the district, so we have to play smart and fast, and we have to do a better job at the free throw line and around the rim,” Fewell said.
Collinsville followed the win over Tioga with a 63-45 win over Alvord on Tuesday night, and Tioga bounced back with a 64-57 win over Lindsay on Tuesday.
The Pirates will return to the hardwood to face the Chico Dragons at 7:35 p.m. on Friday in Collinsville, while the Bulldogs hit the road to face off with the Slidell Greyhounds at 8 p.m. on Friday in Slidell.
