The Hagerstown Tigers hosted the Seton Catholic Cardinals on Wednesday, Dec. 4, in a nonconference county matchup. The Cardinals led most of the first half and the teams were tied eight times, the last time at 45-45, before a late scoring surge from the free-throw line propelled the Tigers to the win.
The game was hard-fought from the opening tip, and neither team could maintain momentum. Tiger freshman guard Jayke Troutwine hit a 3-pointer nearly two minutes into the game to give Hagerstown a 3-0 lead, but it was the only Tiger lead in the first half. Jackson Feist scored inside and then hit a 3-pointer to give the Cards the lead. The Cards led 13-8 at the end of the first quarter. The Cards were leading 29-25 before Landon Lawson scored on a rebound basket with 10 seconds remaining in the first half to trim the Cardinal lead to 29-27 at halftime.
Jason Moynihan scored seconds into the third quarter before the Tigers responded with back-to-back baskets to tie the game at 31-31. The game was tied again at 33-33, 35-35, 41-41, 43-43 and for the last time at 45-45 with 6:47 remaining in the fourth quarter. Kaagen Kendall scored off a steal to give Hagerstown the lead, and with 3:30 remaining, Troutwine scored to push the Tiger lead to 49-45. Eric Parker hit a 3-pointer 20 seconds later to cut the Tiger lead to a single point at 49-48. Neither team scored from the field in the last three minutes of the contest. The Cardinals’ shots stopped falling and they were forced to foul. The Tigers closed the game by hitting eight of nine free throw attempts in the last minute of the game.
Both teams had balanced scoring. Kendall led the Tigers and all game scorers with 19 points. Anthony Kelley and Lawson each scored 14 points and Troutwine scored 10. Feist and Moynihan each scored 14 points to lead the Cardinals. The Tigers’ depth took its toll. The Cardinals did not substitute during the contest until Moynihan fouled out with six seconds to go.
Cardinal head coach Josh Jurgens wanted more from the Cardinal players. “I like my team,” Jurgens said. “Every one of them can score in double figures on any given night, but they are not going to get any taller or faster, so they will have to get in better shape. We lost our legs in the fourth quarter, our shots were short and we missed some layups. This is the second straight game we have led at halftime and lost late. We have had a tough start to our season with three Wayne County teams. I would take my five against anybody’s five, but those three teams have more depth.”
Tiger head coach Mark Doerstler said his players made good decisions with the ball. “Our experience and depth paid off for us,” Doerstler said. “Kaagen (Kendall) was poised and gave us good leadership. We thought we could eventually wear them down with our depth and I think that is what happened. Everyone who played tonight for us played well.”
Hagerstown (2-2) 8 19 14 16 57
Troutwine 10, Isaac Schmitz 0, Kelley 14, Graham 0, Kendall 19, Lawson 14, Ronin 0, Doerstler 0 — Total 57
Seton Catholic (0-3) 13 16 12 7 48
Grant Semler 8, Tyson Tremain 6, Eric Parker 6, Feist 14, Moynihan 14, Ethan Nisewonder 0 — Total**** 48
JV Results: Hagerstown 66 (Jonny Howard 15), Seton Catholic (Gavin Killion 13)
A version of this article appeared in the December 11 2024 print edition of the Western Wayne News.