(Columbia, Mo.) – The Soldan Tigers took home the third place trophy from the Missouri Class 4 boys state basketball championships for the second consecutive year.
The Tigers defeated St. Joseph’s Lafayette 53-45 on Friday afternoon at the Mizzou Arena on the campus of the University of Missouri.
Soldan came to Columbia this weekend with hopes of winning the school’s first state title since 1981, but those hopes were dashed on Thursday by a hot-shooting Borgia team 71-58 in the state semifinals. The Tigers bounced back with a solid effort on Friday to finish their season at 23-7.
“I was proud of how the kids bounced back from a difficult loss to
Borgia,” said Soldan coach Justin Tatum. “It’s better to go 1-1 than to go back home 0-2.”
The Tigers were led by 6’4″ junior forward Randy Holmes, who scored 12 points. Holmes was eight-for-eight from the free throw line. He led a great team performance from the charity stripe as Soldan converted 25 of its 29 free throws. Junior Kawan Griffin scored 10 points for Soldan while junior Paul McRoberts added nine points.
With two third-place state trophies under their belt, the Tigers figure
to be a contender for the state title once again with the majority of
their roster back next year for their senior seasons.
(You can follow Earl Austin Jr’s up-to-date reports on the Missouri State Basketball Championships this weekend on twitter.com/earlaustinjr. You can also follow Earl on his basketball website, www.earlaustinjr.com).