Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Junior Teams Out Of Tournament

Prescott's visit to the junior district tournament at Nashville was short and unpleasant for both teams Saturday, Feb. 6.

The Curley Cubs, 13-3 going in, were favored to at least make it to the finals of the tourney, but ran into problems against Nashville's junior Scrappers.

The problem was a 17-point second quarter the Cubs couldn't overcome. The end result was a 41-35 loss and elimination from the tilt.

Nashville won the toss, held the ball for nearly a minute and turned it over to get the game underway.

Prescott's five wasted no time in pushing the ball down the court, but scoring was another matter.

It took nearly two minutes for the Cubs to break the scoring ice, and then their first two came from the charity stripe.

Nashville rallied to take a 4-2 lead, but the Cubs managed an old fashioned three-point play with a deuce and free throw.

Period one ended with the score 5-4 in Prescott's favor.

However, one field goal in the first six minutes didn't bode well for the Cubs.

Nashville's offense exploded in the second quarter, putting 17 points on the board. This gave the Scrappers a lead they would never relinquish.

While the Scrapper offense was on track, the Nashville 1-3-1 zone kept Prescott at bay. The Cubs would get one shot at the bucket, with missed shots finding their way into enemy hands.

At the 4:13 point of the second Nashville was up 10-7 and playing solid ball. Within the next minute, the Scrappers added five to their total, while the Cubs were blanked.

Prescott had problems with unforced turnovers. This gave Nashville all the incentive the Scrappers needed to pull away and work to put the game on ice.

Halftime arrived with Prescott on the short end of a 21-11 score.

With the season on the line, the Cubs came out and scored first in the third quarter.

Unfortunately, Prescott's junior squad still made mistakes the team hadn't made all year. To make matters worse, the Cubs went cold from the field.

Nashville, though, was hungry and could sense the win. The Scrappers pulled together and hit the boards hard on offense and defense to keep the Cubs off balance, and pay them back for earlier losses during the regular season.

With 2:07 left in the third, Nashville led 27-13. The quarter ended with the Scrappers leading 30-15.

It was crunch time for the Cubs as the fourth quarter began. The Scrappers, however, had the idea they could win and advance to round two.

Nashville scored the first four points and worked almost two minutes off the clock in doing it.

Prescott's first points in the period came from the line, as the Cubs began clawing their way back into the game.

Still, at the 3:09 mark Nashville was in control by 15 with the score 36-21.

The Cubs began firing away from outside and finding the bottom of the bucket with the rock. Prescott's press affected Nashville and forced turnovers which were turned into points by the Cubs.

With 2:07 left in the season, Prescott had cut the lead to 10 at 36-26.

The Cubs were forced to foul and put the Scrappers at the line as the game wound down.

Nashville hit enough free throws to keep Prescott from being able to mount a successful comeback and steal a win.