Tigers take down Blossoms 77-75 in OT for first win

The Medford Tigers defended their home court successfully in a 77-75 overtime win over the Blooming Prairie Awesome Blossoms last Friday, earning the team its first win of the season in a battle between two winless teams.

Medford and Blooming Prairie played in a tight, slugfest of a game for the majority of the contest and a tied game late in the fourth pushed the two sides into overtime where Medford was able to pull out the win with two late free throws to put the game out of reach.

In the first half, Blooming Prairie was able to come out and gain a lead behind sharp shooting from its guards Gabe Hein, Zack Hein and Brady Kittelson, but the Awesome Blossoms’ offensive success was nearly matched by Medford who trailed by just two points at 37-35 going into the half.

In the second half, Medford and Blooming Prairie traded blows on both sides of the court all the way until the final minute when Blooming Prairie had to result to fouling the Tigers trailing 66-65.

With no shot clock, Medford did its best to move the ball and avoid fouls to run the time down, however, the Awesome Blossoms were able to get Medford to the line and put the game in the hands of Medford’s Connor Jones.

Jones nailed one free throw to make the score 67-65 with 38 seconds remaining, but Blooming Prairie’s Gabe Hein had the answer, connecting on a fadeaway jump shot from inside the arc to tie the game at 67-67 with 24 seconds remaining.

Medford tried to hold possession to take the final shot of the game, however, a turnover led to the Blossoms gaining possession with three seconds remaining.

Blooming Prairie’s Gabe Hein took matters into his own hands and put up a shot from near half-court in an attempt to win the game, but the attempt missed and sent the game to overtime.

Tied at 67-67 as the four-minute overtime period began, Blooming Prairie had the first opportunity to take a lead, but two missed free throws by Zach Hein led to Medford taking the first lead in added time after Driscoll nailed a two-point shot from the middle of the key.

Both sides would go on to trade baskets all the way until the final minute of overtime when Blooming Prairie was forced to foul down 75-73 with 27 seconds to go.

Two successful free throws by Driscoll led to Medford leading 77-73, but a quick basket by Blooming Prairie moved the score to 77-75.

Blooming Prairie fouled again and sent Medford’s Jake Weston to the line with a chance to ice the game, but two missed free throws and a rebound gave the Awesome Blossoms one more chance to tie or win the game.

This time there would be no answer from Blooming Prairie as a last-second shot by Gabe Hein and a follow-up shot by Jacob Pauly both missed the mark to give Medford its first win of the season.

Leading the Tigers in scoring was Connor Jones with 23 points while Gabe Hein led the Awesome Blossoms with 21.

The game between the Tigers and Awesome Blossoms was both schools’ lone contest of the week.

Blooming Prairie will return to action next on the road against Grand Meadow on Thursday, Dec. 29 at 7:30 p.m., while Medford will return Tuesday, Jan. 3 on the road against Waseca at 7:30 p.m.

Player Stats

Medford

                    P    R    A

Jones           23   6    2

Erickson       21   9    5

Driscoll        14   3    2

Schlund        8    7    1

Bluhm          5    6    1

Janke           4    4    0

Esch            2    4    0

Blooming Prairie

                          P    R    A

G. Hein         21   9    2

Z. Hein         19   3    0

Kittelson       16   6    3

Pauly           13   5    0

Cooke          6    8    4

Vigeland       0    2    2