There was no Christmas miracle in Rising Sun Friday night. The Tigers boys basketball team trailed Bel Air by 19 points midway through the third quarter. Backed by a student section dressed in Santa hats and ugly sweaters who brought colorful lights and real pine trees, Rising Sun rallied to get within five but the Bobcats held on for a 49-43 triumph. Bel Air took command by embarking on a 23-0 mega-run to take a 23-4 lead. The Bobcats led 32-15 at halftime and stretched the advantage to as much as 19 before the Tigers upped their intensity and mounted a comeback. Rising Sun coach Don Passenant said his halftime speech was simple. "Like I told them, I can't teach you how to be aggressive," he said. "You've got to be aggressive. You've got to have it in your heart. It's got to come from your heart. I can teach you all the skills in basketball but the rest is up to you." Rising Sun was down 42-29 entering the fourth quarter. Casey Baker buried a three-pointer and Will Farrington knocked down a baseline jumper to narrow the gap to nine. Baker made another three-pointer to slice the deficit down to 44-39 with 3:54 remaining. Rising Sun got the ball back with a chance to get closer, but missed a shot in the lane. The Tigers got within five on two other occasions but that would be as close as they would come. "That's the most aggressive I've seen Rising Sun varsity play," Passenant said. "Five years I've been here, I think that's the most aggressive I've ever seen." The coach knows the trick will be getting the Tigers to play with that same intensity on a consistent basis. The fourth quarter flourish was not quite enough to make up for a bad beginning. "The offense was giving up most of the points," Passenant said. "The defense was doing fine. We put in a zone trap and it was working for a while. The second half, I decided I wanted them to show me something – toughen up and play man-to-man. And they played great man-to-man, but we were down by 17 points. If we had another quarter it would've been a different story. If we could just have the first half back. But that's what they've got to learn. They've got to do it the whole game and they've got to do it in practice, too." Farrington led the Tigers with 18 points and eight rebounds. Curtis Cox collected eight points and 10 boards. Jake Keane contributed eight points. Noah Juergens provided five rebounds and four assists. Oxford 50, Rising Sun 31 The visiting Hornets pulled away in the second half on Tuesday, December 8. Will Farrington finished with 10 points for the Tigers, who trailed 25-14 at halftime. Noah Juergens added six points and Cox had five. Rising Sun 47, Fallston 43 The Tigers opened the season with a victory over visiting Fallston Monday, December 7. "It was ugly but we won," coach Don Passenant said. "That's better than last year where it was ugly but we lost." Noah Juergens recorded 12 points and five rebounds. Will Farrington supplied 11 points, 10 rebounds, four steals, and four assists. Fallston led by one entering the fourth quarter before the Tigers toughened up on defense with help from sophomore forward Ethan Greene. Comments are closed.
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