Tiger Basketball off and running

A change in philosophy is putting the Dripping Springs High School Tigers on a fast-paced brand of ball.

Tiger basketball is truly a run and gun game that mimics an indoor track meet. Coach Craig Swannack two-platoons with each team going in every 30 seconds or so with everyone sprinting the entire time. Anytime a player gets inside half court, they will probably put it up. The strategy is based on number of shots versus quality of shots.

Defense is less of an issue. If a player wants to shoot, then they need to hustle the rebounds. This game plan certainly lends to the opportunity of putting up large numbers on the scoreboard. As one of the coaches that started this movement pointed out, the good thing about this offense is that it reduces the number of turnovers — because a team does not have the ball long enough to throw it away.

The Tigers first game with San Antonio’s Madison High School showed the scoring potential with the Tigers almost hitting the century mark, blowing by Madison 98-74. DSHS scoring came on 17-40 from two-point range, 14-35 from the three and a strong 20-23 from the line.

In the first home game, the Tigers took on a very good team in the Rouse High School Raiders and fell 80-72. The first quarter was a see-saw change of leads. The Tigers jumped out to a 5-0 lead, only to have the Raiders tie it up. There were four ties with the Tigers getting their biggest lead of the night at 18-13, but an 8-0 run put the Raiders ahead 21-18 after one. DSHS would never trail again as most of the game would be double-digit leads.

At halftime, the score was 48-34. The biggest lead of the night was on the first score of the second half (50-34). It took the Tigers most of the fourth quarter to trim the lead to six (76-70).

Vs. Madison: Jaxon Reagan 20, Davis Budge 17, Josh Oliphant 14, Luke Spozio 13, Cade Brunson 12, Zach Fleming7, Judson Loe 6, Austin Moore 5, Dylan Ducharme 4.

Vs. Rouse: Spozio 18, Reagan 16, Budge 9, Kooper Brown 6, Brunson 5, Loe 4, Carter Larsen 3, Fleming 3, Benjamin Beatty 3, Dakin Drewitz 3, Oliphant 2.