It was early in the 1997-98 season when the Tigers made their annual visit to Plainfield to take on the Penguins. In the first two seasons, the teams had split the games at Tri-County; the Penguins had prevailed in the '95-'96 season and Tigerton had a comeback win in the '96-'97 match (see game #6). With the tandem of Nick Desrochers and Jason Littlefield playing strongly, the Tigers looked to have the advantage, but "that's why they play the games."
The Penguins jumped to an early 6-2 lead. Desrochers picked up his first foul just 1:05 into the contest. Later in the quarter, Ryan Breitenfeldt hit a three-pointer to cut the defecit to 10-9, Tri-County. Twenty seconds later, Matt Egbert hit a long two-pointer to give Tigerton their first lead, 11-10. With 1:09 remaining in the period, Desrochers picked up foul number two, but scored three more points in the quarter to give the Tigers a 14-12 lead after one period.
Just :21 into the quarter, Desrochers was called for his third foul, which caused him to sit out the rest of the half. The Penguins, meanwhile, were in the bonus early and scored eight of their ten second quarter points from the free throw line. The score was tied at the half, 22-22.
Desrochers started the second half for the Tigers, scoring two quick buckets to spark a 6-0 run and a 28-22 Tigerton lead. However, Tri-County answered with a 5-0 run, including a breakaway basket on a sloppy play which resulted in Desrochers' fourth foul with 6:16 to play in the period. With 5:37 to play in the quarter, Desrochers was taken out. The teams traded baskets for the remainder of the period, and Tigerton held a slim 39-38 advantage going to the fourth.
Desrochers started the final quarter, but picked up his final foul- a questionable call on the offensive end- with 6:27 to play with Tigerton ahead, 41-38. The resulting free throws cut the lead to 41-40. The score remained the same until the 3:08 mark when Josh Graham scored a basket on an offensive rebound to extend the lead to 43-40. However, the Penguins again answered by scoring a three-point play to tie the game at 43-43 with 2:24 to go.
With 2:10 to play, Graham attempted a 1-and-1 free throw but missed. Littlefield rebounded and was fouled- apparently while shooting. However, he missed the first free throw (which was ruled a 1-and-1 by the officials) and the Penguins rebounded. They tried to push the ball upcourt, but it was lost out of bounds. The officials were puzzled, and eventually awarded the ball to Tigerton. The Penguins called a time out, but after this the ball was given back to them with 2:04 to play.
The Penguins' scored a pair of free throws to take a 45-43 lead with 1:28 to play. Breitenfeld answered with two of his own to tie the score with 1:19 remaining. The Penguins scored one of two free throws to take a 46-45 advantage with 1:04 to play. On their ensuing possession, Breitenfeld was called for an offensive foul with :42 left. Tri-County scored two more free throws to lead, 48-45, with :29 to play.
Graham was fouled and converted one of two shots to cut the lead to 48-46 with :24. Tigerton fouled immediately, and the Penguins converted only one of two attempts to lead, 49-46 with only :20 left. Breitenfeld was fouled with :14 to go and converted both free throws to cut the lead to 49-48.
The Penguins quickly inbounded along their own baseline. The player noticed his teammate breaking towards their basket down the court, and made a long pass. However, Graham had baited the throw and intercepted it in his own backcourt. He dribbled to halfcourt while being hacked by Penguin defenders, then passed to Littlefield at the top of the key. He dribbled into the lane to his left, pivoted and turned 180 degrees before releasing the shot, which was good with :02. Tri-County's last full court shot was on line, but no good and Tigerton escaped with a 50-49 victory.
The game gave the team hope for a successful season. They had fallen behind late and came back to win without the services of Desrochers, who played only 4:17 of the final three quarters.
Scoring
TigertonTri-County
| Name | Points | Name | Points
| Jason Littlefield | 22 | Bryan Bula | 15
| | Nick Desrochers | 9 | Tim Williams | 11
| | Ryan Breitenfeldt | 8 | Justin Evans | 8
| | Josh Graham | 7 | Matt Makaryk | 7
| | Matt Egbert | 2 | Richard Phillips | 4
| | Adam Weller | 2 | Pat Goodwin | 2
| | | Mike Prescher | 2
| 
| Jason Littlefield
| | THS Scoring Leader
| | | | | |
TECHNICAL FOULS:
Tigerton -none
Tri-County -none
SCORE BY PERIODS: 1st 2nd 3rd 4th TOTAL
Tigerton 14 8 17 11 50
Tri-County 12 10 16 11 49
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#1. Tigerton 65, Gresham 64 (February 14, 1997) @Gresham, WI
The Tigers earned their second consecutive road victory and their only win against the Gresham Wildcats during the period as they squeaked past the hosts 65-64 on Valentine's night.
Both teams, playing mostly young or inexperienced players, played sloppily throughout the game. The Tigers scored the majority of their points in the paint or from the free throw line, while the Wildcats scored in the same fashion. A putback by Jason Littlefield gave Tigerton a 13-12 lead with 2:50 to go in the first quarter. Gresham scored the next five points to take a 17-13 lead, but Justin Miller answered by scoring the next four points to forge a 17-17 tie. The Wildcats responded to lead 19-17 after one quarter.
The Tigers went on a 10-3 run in the first 4:00 of the second to take a 27-22 lead. The teams traded hoops before Gresham went on an 8-1 run to close the half and take a 34-32 lead.
In the third period, Nick Desrochers scored four consecutive points to tie up the score at 42-42. The Tigers outscored the Wildcats 9-5 in the remainer of the third and led 51-47.
With 2:45 to play in the game, Josh Carlson fouled out and the resulting free throw capped a 12-6 Gresham run to give the Wildcats a 59-57 lead. Ryan Breitenfeld hit a pair of free throws to tie the score with 1:54 to go. Littlefield gave Tigerton a 61-59 lead with a shot from the paint with 1:19. The Wildcats scored a pair of free throws to tie the score at 61-61 with 1:00 to play.
With :55 left, the Tigers turned the ball over. With :33, the Wildcats converted two free throws to take a 63-61 advantage. Desrochers went coast-to-coast and scored on a runner up the lane to tie the score with :21. After another foul, Gresham converted one of two attempts. Trailing 64-63 with :10 left, Desrochers again went coast-to-coast, dribbled to his right, and converted a long jumper to give the Tigers the 65-64 lead. Gresham called time out with :01 left, but the inbound pass was intercepted to seal the 65-64 come from behind win.
Littlefield led all scorers with 25 points while Desrochers scored seven of his thirteen points in the final period. The win was the second straight on the road for Tigerton, and gave them momentum they would convert into two postseason victories as they played perhaps their best basketball of the four years.
Scoring
TigertonGresham
| Name | Points | Name | Points
| Jason Littlefield | 25 | Jeff Adkins | 21
| | Nick Desrochers | 13 | Mike Robertson | 19
| | Josh Carlson | 10 | Brandon Raddant | 7
| | Ryan Breitenfeldt | 8 | Will Weerts | 6
| | Justin Miller | 6 | Lucas Rekow | 4
| | Ryan Hintz | 3 | Jed Hoffman | 2
| | | Rob Wurth | 2
|
| Jason Littlefield
| | THS Scoring Leader
| | | | | |
TECHNICAL FOULS:
Tigerton -none
Gresham -none
SCORE BY PERIODS: 1st 2nd 3rd 4th TOTAL
Tigerton 17 15 19 14 65
Gresham 19 15 13 17 64
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