By T. Scott Boatright
SINGER —- Junior Jalen Outley was determined.
So were all of the Simsboro Tigers.
And the result was the Tigers roaring to a Division V Nonselect School boys playoffs road win Tuesday night as Outley led ninth-seeded Simsboro to a 64-60 win at eighth-seeded Singer.
Simsboro senior Itavus Brown was also determined in a game during which neither team ever built more than a nine-point advantage, so much so that Brown told his team and coach Adam Wodach during a late timeout that, “We are not going to lose this.”
Brown finished with 17 points in a game that saw only four Tigers put up points on the scoreboard.
“He was just a leader for us all four quarters, from start to finish,” Wodach said about Brown. “He was so consistent. He didn’t try to force anything, but I bet he shot 70%.
“The big thing is that he was four-for-four at the free-throw line with under two minutes left. He was determined.”
Outley led the Tigers in scoring with 21 points in a game Simsboro led 25-24 at the half.
“Singer got up by nine points twice,” Wodach said. “Our biggest lead was four points in the first quarter and then five toward the end of the game. But it was a battle — a fight from start to finish.
“That was Outley’s best offensive performance of the year for sure. He finished really well around the rim. But he had help. I’ll bet at least 10 of his points came off of assists. I’ll bet Ahmad (Smith) had five or six assists with passes to him.”
Wodach gave Singer credit for closing down the Tigers’ usually well-rounded scoring attack.
“Singer did an amazing job defensively,” Wodach said about the Hornets. “They were well prepared and made every basket we got very difficult. It was just an absolute dogfight.”
Sophomore Tristan Deloney and Smith, an eighth-grader, each added seven points to Simsboro’s scoring effort.
“We were down by nine points with three-and-a-half minutes left and Brown hit an and-one 3-pointer and then added the free throw,” Wodach said. “That play set us up to be able to come back and pull off the win.”
Next up for the Tigers (27-12) is a quarterfinals game tipping off at 6:30 p.m. Friday at top-seeded Zwolle.
“We’re excited,” Wodach said. “They’re the defending state champs, so the road goes through Zwolle. It seems like the last 20 years the road has gone through either us or them, so we’re really excited.”
