Article by Chad Clevenger
Hillsboro, Kan. - The leaves are changing color, the air is getting cooler, and that means it's time to take Tiger athletics indoors. Basketball season is here. The Central Christian Tigers opened their season with a short drive to Hillsboro, to take on the Tabor College Blue Jays. The Tigers were able to lead throughout and come home with the win 79-67.
Balanced scoring as the Tigers were able to have 4 players in double figures, 8 in the scoring column, and 10 players in the Box Score with their deep bench. Senior Jevarrick Butler had an outstanding game as he led the Tigers with 19 points, including 4 three pointers, and had 4 assists. Jaeden Whitten came off the bench and brought great energy, tying his career high in points with 14.
The Tigers only trailed for about a minute of play as the Blue Jays got on the board 1^st, but Butler scored the next 3 points, and the Blue Jays took the lead 11-10, which was immediately erased by another Butler basket, this time a 3 pointer. The Tigers were able to build a lead as high as 16 points in the 2^nd half. The Blue Jays were able to put a couple runs together and were able to get the lead as low as 6 points, 56-50, but Chris Whitten was able to answer that Tabor run with a 3 pointer, his 2^nd of 3 on the game to get the lead to 59-50. A 7-0 run for the Tigers over a 1 minute stretch late in the game, put the Tigers in a great position, as they were able to get the win 79-67.
 
Tiger Leaders:
Points: Jevarrick Butler (19)
Rebounds: Chris Whitten (7), Omari Maulana (7)
Assists: Jevarrick Butler (4)
Steals: Omari Maulana (3)
Blocks: Andre Shelby (1)
 
Coaches Quote:
"It was nice to finally compete against someone other than ourselves.  It looked like our first game of the season.  We left a lot of scoring opportunities out there due to our poor free throw shooting, we need to do better there.  We have a long, long way to go, but we are excited to walk away with a road win to open the season.   Ideally, we would like to have seen more transfer from practice to game 1, but we have a lot of teachable and learning opportunities we can reference from the tape with our guys.  
 
I thought Jevarrick, overall had a pretty good game on both sides of the ball.  We think he could have a great season.  He has the ability to impact the game in so many ways on offense and defense.  We got good minutes from our bench, Jaeden, Travis, and Andre Cooper came in and provided some good production.  Jaeden gave some great energy and impacted winning throughout the game.  We know he is good enough to start for us, but he has embraced his role in coming in and being a punch for our team off the bench, if he plays well, our team is better.  
 
Looking forward to getting better the next two days before we play again on Friday."
-Coach Romero 
 
 
Next Up:
The Tigers (1-0) home opener on Friday, against the Sterling College Warriors (0-0). Tip is set for 7pm at the Alexander Arena. The game can also be seen on the SAC Sports Network.