Drake Howard became the 11th player in Taylorville boys history to reach 1,000 points scoring his big points in the fourth quarter. Still, the Taylorville Tornadoes couldn't get their offense going falling to the Robinson Maroons in Lake Land College by a score of 53-47.  

The Tornadoes jumped out to a 13-6 lead at the end of the first as Blake Ladage came in and quickly scored six points en route to a 13-point night. Every time it felt that Taylorville would pull away though, the Maroons kept hanging around. The Taylorville offense went cold for the first half of the second quarter other than a couple of Drake Howard free throws and 3 points from Baron Odam as Taylorville went into halftime with a slim 18-16 lead.  

The offense would come alive in the third quarter but Robinson started hitting the 3-ball as Robinson took the lead in the third and the two traded leads throughout the rest of the quarter.  As the buzzer sounded at the end of the third, Taylorville trailed by two 34-32.  Owen Younker had six points in the third quarter for the Tornadoes. 

In the fourth quarter, it was once again the Maroon's three-point shots that propelled Robinson to sustain the lead despite a heavy attack from Taylorville's offense they just couldn't get the job done.  Four free throws from leading scorer Blake Green sealed the deal and gave Robinson the victory. 
 

Drake Howard, who scored his 1,000th point in that fourth quarter says that it was a very emotional evening and he is happy to be part of rarified air. 

Drake says that he has had some fantastic memories on the court over the last four years and praised former Taylorville boys star Bryce Friedrich for being a huge mentor to him.

For those coming up, Howard says the best advice he can give is to know the role you have on the court.

                  1     2     3    4         T

Tvl           13     5    14    15     47
Robinson  6    10   18   19     53

Final point totals:

Taylorville
Blake Ladage 13

Drake Howard 9

Owen Younker 9

Baron Odam 7

Clark Durbin 6

Malique Pearse 3

Robinson

Blake Green 14

Cruz Dunlap 12

Andrew Sparks 12

Ian Gilmore 11

Jaxon Hires 4

Blake Ladage was named the Nicole Patrick Country Financial Player of the game.  Congratulations to both Blake and Drake for their great accomplishments Saturday evening. Taylorville falls to 14-15. They will face Shelbyville on Tuesday evening. Pregame on WTIM at 6:45. 

Photo courtesy of the Taylorville Tornado Sports Boosters.