The atmosphere at the Field House was charged. As part of the best non rotary crowd of the year, the Tiger faithful sported painted faces and cheered in unison. They just didn't have much to shout about. In last night's pre-game show, Kraig Hetz and I discussed Johnathan Lender. Lender is the team's leading scorer, but at 7.5, there just hasn't been much consistency.
Lender is a sharpshooter whose stroke has been off.
Good shooters need to shoot. Last night, Lender shot, and shot well. John had 13 in the first quarter and finished with 24. Altoona jumped on the Tigers early, and prevented a comeback late. Before the game began, it was beginning to look like Mike Brown and Mike Reichard, the officials in the jayvee game, were going to have to officiate the varsity game.