The Rich Hill Tigers had been dominating in the Appleton City tournament all week, but so had the #2 seeded Osceola Indians. The week was set to come to a head as the 1 seeded Tigers (10-2) were squaring off against the 12-1 Indians, who were looking to take their 9 game win streak and extend it into double digits.

The Indians early seemed scared to play a fast paced game, and successfully slowed down the Tigers. Osceola found themselves in the driver seat with a 10-8 lead after the first 8 minutes.

In the second, the Indians would take back their place in the driver seat, and control the pace, again slowing down the high-speed Tigers offense. At the end of the half, the Tigers were still trailing with a score of 20-12. Rich Hill was held to just 4 points in the 2nd quarter as the combination of stout defense and a clock burning strategy.

Out of the break, the Tigers came out with a spark, and some sharp shooting. They nailed home 4 triples and scored 23 points in the 3rd quarter which propelled them to a 35-29 lead over the Indians.

Rich Hill was able to keep the momentum in the final period and bring home the 1st place trophy with a final of 59-50.

Dillon Coonce led all scoring with 24 points, 16 of which came in the 2nd half. Zane Becker recorded 15, all of which came in the 2nd half. And Gillis had 14 which were also all in the second half.

Osceola was led by Preston Listerud with 21 points and Skylar Wohlers with 13.

Both teams had a great tournament, and fought hard in the championship. They will meet again in just a few days, as they are scheduled to duke it out again at Rich Hill on Tuesday.