The Lake Tahoe School Bobcats finished off a fantastic 2021 basketball season in December. The 7th grade team qualified for the Tah-Neva championship tournament after winning the D1 small school division championship. The 8th grade team missed out on qualifying for the Tah-Neva tournament after a number of close games throughout the regular season.
The 7th grade team was unstoppable in the Lake Division this year. After beating Incline, Whittell, TEA, and North Tahoe, they finished the regular season undefeated at 8-0. With 26 boys on the 7th grade team, it was our largest team in school history. All of the boys contributed throughout the season and the team improvement with every practice and game.
Our young Bobcat team then moved onto the D1 small school tournament as the #1 seed. In the semi-final game, Doral Academy pushed the Bobcats the entire game. JP Kelly made a clutch free-throw late in the game to give the boys a lead before Patrick Rogers scored the decisive layup to give the Bobcats a victory of 23-20. In the D1 small school championship game, our team battled Virginia City in an exciting competition. A big 3rd quarter from Joey Jennings proved the difference and the 7th grade team pulled away to win the championship game 39-28. This is our school’s first ever 7th grade D1 small school championship in our schools history.
The 7th grade team capped off a great year by advancing to the consolation semi-final at the Tah-Neva tournament, following a loss in their opening game to South Tahoe Middle School. Unfortunately, our Bobcats were defeated by 1-point by Carson Middle School and lost 25-24. Despite falling one point shy of sending the game into overtime, players Joey Jennings, Liam Coyle, and JP Kelly made some big shots down the stretch in the consolation championship game.
Assistant Coach Kris Nugent was delighted with the entire team. “It’s been a fantastic season for our boys basketball program. It was exciting to see our 7th grade boys win the small school championship on our home court. The gym was rocking and the atmosphere was amazing. They then played amazingly well against much bigger schools at the Tah-Neva tournament. The 8th grade team showed great improvement and tenacity all season long and should be proud of how well they battled every team they played.”
The 8th grade team played hard in every game this year and lost a number of close games by only a bucket or two. For many of the boys, this was their first experience of playing middle school basketball and their improvement throughout the season was outstanding to watch.
Great season, Bobcats!
