(Neola) The 7-4 Tri-Center boys basketball team travels to Audubon on Friday to take on the Wheelers. We’ll have the game on 96.5 KSOM.
Tri-Center coach Chad Harder has been impressed by Audubon. The Wheelers started 1-6, but have won three of their last four games. “Audubon is playing really well right now. They’ve come out of Christmas Break and have shot the ball well and are defending at a high level. Just playing good overall. They’ve got a really solid nucleus of guys with the Bauer twins (Carson and Collin) and Edward Miller. They have some really good role players after that. They are a team that can play with anybody. We know we have our work cut out for us.”
The Trojans are playing well also, with a 2-1 mark thus far in January. They beat Logan-Magnolia 73-42 on Tuesday. “Our guys are just kind of playing disciplined basketball is what it comes down to. I’ve said this before, we’ve got a really smart team. They’ve figured out what is working and what is not. If we can get our shots from outside clicking I think this is going to be an awfully tough squad. Since Christmas Break we’ve really looked to go inside to Kent Elliott and Christian Dahir and that’s kind of been the difference. We are getting them involved in everything. When that happens, if you can go As a team if you can go inside and outside as team, you’re going to be awful tough.”
Their only loss in the last three games was a 52-50 nail biter against Class 2A #8 AHSTW. “Our guys stuck to the game plan really. Played really disciplined basketball. Against them you have to defend the 3-point line, but if you can take them out of transition, that’s how you can stay in the game. They are a phenomenal team, especially in transition and defensively. We were able to really play disciplined basketball.”
Tri-Center was a 72-42 winner against the Wheelers when these teams played in Neola on December 2nd. “The first time we played them we shot the ball pretty well. We turned them over a decent amount and kind of controlled the boards. They didn’t shoot real well in the first outing and we know when we get to Audubon they are going to shoot it better. The crowd there is always really good. We were only two games into the season, same with them. Both teams are just completely different type of team and I think both teams have made some huge strides.”
Michael Turner leads the way for Tri-Center averaging 18.9 points, 3.6 rebounds, 4.9 assists, and 2.6 steals per game. Christian Dahir is shooting 58% from the field and averages a double double with 10.8 points and 10.8 rebounds per contest.
Tri-Center coach Chad Harder:
