Tigers get revenge on Warriors

NEW LONDON — New London and Van Buren boys basketball kicked off the 2022-23 season against one another in an enticing down to the wire finish.

That game ended with the Warriors upending the Tigers 55-48.

When the two squads rematched on Tuesday the script was flipped as it was the Tigers avenging the opening season loss with a 72-54 victory over the Warriors.

New London came out firing on all cylinders against Van Buren.

The Tigers rushed out to a 7-1 lead. Following a free throw by the Warriors, the Tigers Brendan Richey sunk a three ball to make it 10-2.

Van Buren drilled a three of their own from Lucas Fett, but New London ran the rest of the quarter putting together an 11-2 run to the end of the period.

After one, the Tigers held a 21-7 lead.

In the second, New London continued to thrive on both ends of the ball and the Tigers Blaise Porter took control of the game.

After a two by the Warriors to open the quarter scoring, Porter dropped a deep ball followed by a pair of Benjamin twos. The 7-0 run put the Tigers up 28-9.

From that point on, the next 16 points from New London all came from Porter.

During that span, New London outscored Van Buren 16-6 to make it 44-15.

By the halftime horn, New London held onto a 46-21 lead.

In the third, both teams were dead even.

After trading buckets back and fourth through the eight minute period, the Tigers and Warriors ended the third locked at 15-15 with the Tigers still holding a commanding lead, 61-36.

Van Buren would bounce back in the final quarter of action, taking it 18-11, but the New London lead was too much to overcome.

With the win, the Tigers improve to 8-4. Van Buren drops to 3-7 on the year.