Parker Ablott (13) drives in against GICC
On Thursday, the Tigers hosted the York Dukes in the Jungle to close out the 24-25 home regular season. A year ago, the Tigers beat the Dukes twice, both times at York High School: once in the regular season and once in the sub-district championship.
The Tigers came in following a bad loss to Waverly a week ago. From the jump, the Tigers brought the energy and were on fire early. The press turned York over a few times, which led to easy buckets, but when the Tigers were in the halfcourt it was a special showing. In the first frame, senior Parker Ablott buried a three along with sophomore Creighton Sidlo. After one quarter, the Tigers led it 18-13.
The second quarter was more of the same for the boys in white as Ablott kept being special in his last game in the Jungle. Ablott buried two more threes in the first couple of minutes and also recorded a block. Senior Tucker Synek also knocked in a couple of triples along with Sidlo hitting one. Senior Eli Schneider started cold in the first quarter but got past the cold spell and hit one midway through the second, which gave the Tigers a 35-25 lead going into the locker room.
With one half to play, the Tigers felt comfortable. A team that plays eight guys on a normal night, six of those being seniors, wanted to send those guys off in style. York was taken out of the 2-3 zone and put into a man-to-man defense for a possession. Tiger assistant coach Alex Thayer saw it right away and made the play call. Chance Vertin, a former Tiger quarterback, brought his skill from the field to the court and found the state high jump champ on a backdoor lob for a rim-rattling slam. The Jungle was jumping and so was the Tiger bench.
As the third quarter came to a close, the Tigers led it 46-38 with Ryan Huston making free throws with no time left on the clock.
Now with one quarter to play, Coach Dylan Flinn sent his five seniors onto the floor for one final time in the regular season on their home floor. Ablott didn’t fail to impress in the fourth. The Tiger guard could not miss from three, shooting some from college range.
The Tiger defense was lockdown as well in the fourth quarter, not allowing York to get any momentum. The Tigers would go on to win the game 67-49, with the reserves coming in with a little over a minute to play. Ablott finished with 27 and led all scorers. When asked about his senior guard, Flinn said, “He makes me a lot better coach than I actually am…I’m glad he’s on my team.”
