Friday, February 23, 2018

Tuesday, February 20, 2018

TCC Earns 3 Seed, Loses in First Round of Playoffs

by TCCNN Reporter Randy Pifer
Updated on 2/20/18 at 11:32 PM

The Fightin' Reformers earned their first bid into the WHCBL Playoffs after winning a franchise record seven games.  They earned the 3 seed in the 30 and over bracket and were matched up with the 2 seed Taylors First Baptist.  Taylor's delivered two of TCC's losses on the year with an opening night comeback win and a dismantling in early January.  The Reformers were aware of the task in front of them and vowed to learn from the previous two meetings.  Coach Ryan LaPierre was concerned with their size and knew something had to be done to combat their advantage in the paint.  TCC was at an even greater disadvantage with the loss of their starting front court of Patrick Gomer and Rome Lawson.  Knowing this, The Reformers had to call up a rookie from the developmental league and throw him into the fire immediately.

Josh Payne made his TCC debut and all but carried the team.  TCC jumped all over Taylors in the first half and took a commanding 12-0 lead and still led by 12 at halftime.  Payne was the main reason for the hot start and he finished the game with team highs in both points (21) and rebounds (12).  Payne, unfortunately, got not help from his teammates as no one else finished with more than 8 points  and struggled shooting the ball across the board.  Hugh Carson finished with 8 points and 11 rebounds and Pifer chipped in 10 rebounds, but it was not enough to slow down the hot shooting Taylor's team in the second half.  Taylor's erased their 12 point deficit less than 4 minutes into the second half and quickly took a six point lead.  TCC clawed back into the game and briefly tied it, but wasn't able to hold them off and lost the game 47-42 and was eliminated from the playoffs.

TCC was also without Daniel Brown and Jordan Cobb but did get the return of Sam Ali who finished with a team high assists (4).  TCC goes into the off season with more questions than answers, but one question that seems to have been answered is whether or not Josh Payne was ready for the big league.  After his performance in the playoffs, It would seem that has been answered with a resounding yes!

Wednesday, February 7, 2018

Monday, February 5, 2018

TCC Wins Sixth Game of the Year

by TCCNN Reporter Randy Pifer
Updated at 11:36 PM on 2/5/18

TCC won their record tying sixth game of the year Monday night with a win over Earle Street.  With one game remaining on the schedule against Edwards Road, The Reformers could win a franchise record seven games with a victory.  Playing shorthanded with Hugh Carson, Rome Lawson and Jordon Cobb all missing the game, TCC used floor spacing and crisp passing to beat the Earle Street zone and get easy shots inside to overwhelm their defense and take the 50-43 win.  Ryan LaPierre led the team with 21 points and Patrick Gomer, fighting plantar fasciitis, came up big with 16 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals.

TCC's most reliable shooters, Randy Pifer and Ben Davis, both had off nights from downtown with a combined 0-8 performance.  Pifer finished with 6 points, but did lead the team with 9 rebounds.  Davis finished with 2 points.  "We couldn't get it going from outside tonight, but we used a total team effort to help us get this win" said Davis.  Jonathan Chasteen hit his first three of the season to help pick up the slack from the rest of the teams cold shooting.  Daniel Brown played his normal high energy defense and had a career high 2 blocks.

TCC fell behind early but fought back and took a 8 point lead into the half.  "Our passing was the best we have seen all year in the first half" said coach LaPierre.  Coming out of the locker room, TCC looked a little sloppy, but was able to hold off Earle Street with timely shots and solid defense to finish off the game and take home the win.

"We really want that team record" said Gomer.  "I'm risking my health to make sure win finish this season off with seven wins."  The team was also playing with Hugh Carson on their minds.  Carson  missed the game with flu like conditions and The Reformer had that extra motivation on their minds.  "He's one of our captains.  We wanted to win this one for him" said Chasteen.

TCC finishes the year next Monday night at 8:30 against Edwards Road Baptist Church at Berea Fist Baptist gym.

#sevenwouldbeheaven

Thursday, February 1, 2018

Tuesday, January 30, 2018

TCC vs REZ Full Game Video


TCC Wins on Fan Appreciation Night

by TCCNN Reporter Randy Pifer
Updated at 5:16 PM on 1/30/18

The Fightin' Reformers looked at the schedule when it was released and circled the game against REZ for Fan Appreciation Night 2018.  TCC had handily beaten REZ by 35 points in the early season match up and appeared ready to cruise to an easy victory in front of a packed house full of TCC fanatics.  After falling behind quickly, 9-2, REZ called a timeout, not wanting a repeat of last game.  This tactical strategy seemed to work wonders as TCC forgot how to box out and rebound the ball for the remainder of the first half.  Super-fan Brandon Simpson had to be held back from entering the game.  "Someone needs to rebound and box out, I'll do it myself if I have to" he shouted!

TCC still held the lead the entire first half, thanks to some nice shooting by Hugh Carson, Ryan LaPierre and Ben Davis.  Jordon Cobb, playing in only his third game this season thanks to an injury riddle rookie season, was quite effective in his return with some clutch defensive stops and a key basket late in the game.  Daniel Brown was a defensive wizard once again with a team high five steals.

The Reformers we playing without two key players in the front court.  Patrick Gomer missed his second game of the year, and Randy Pifer missed the first game of his storied TCC/CGBC career.  His incredible streak of never missing a game came to an end thanks to his "eminent death flu" that nearly ended him.  He was still able to attend the game and his presence alone was enough to push the team over the edge to pull out the win.  "When Randy played we won by 35, when he didn't we only won by 5.  Guess he is worth 30 points per game" said Karla Simpson.  Her deductive reasoning seems to check out.

REZ continued to fight in the second half and TCC went cold from the floor.  There was a 4 minute stretch where TCC did not score and REZ was hitting crazy shot after crazy shot.  With under 3 minutes to play, REZ hit a three to take their first lead of the game.  The Reformers answered with a layup to reclaim the lead, but REZ hit another three to take a 2 point lead with under 2 minutes to play.

With under a minute to play and TCC down by 1, Brown clamped down with 3 of his steals, including a beautiful highlight-reel left handed finish on which he was fouled.  He missed the free throw, but TCC was able to finish the game with defense and free throws to win 54-49.  With 2 game remaining on the schedule TCC sits at 5-3.  A final record of 7-3 would be the best record in TCC history.  Earle Street and Edwards Road are all that stand in their way of #sevenwouldbeheaven!

Wednesday, January 17, 2018

TCC vs Taylors Full Game Video


TCC Drops Second Game in a Row

by TCCNN Reporter Randy Pifer
Updated on 1/17/18 at 1:05 pm

The Fightin' Reformers find themselves in unfamiliar territory after suffering their second consecutive loss to fall to 3-3 on the season. Taylor's First Baptist completed the season sweep of TCC with a 55-46 win on Monday night.  The Reformers were with out three key players yet again, as their lack of depth cost them again.  Patrick Gomer and Rome Lawson were both missing in the front court causing many problems against the biggest team in the league.  "They have two guys over 6'5" and we just couldn't match them inside tonight" said Hugh Carson, who led the team in scoring with eleven points.  Ryan LaPierre also finished with eleven points.

'We couldn't hit outside shots with any consistency and they were too big inside; it was the perfect storm tonight" said Jonathan Chasteen.  Daniel Brown's all-out energy and effort has become customary, but he struggled with his shot again tonight finishing with only four points on one of six shooting.

Ben Davis got hot early and led TCC to any early lead with back to back threes, but the team couldn't sustain the hot start as they fell down by as many as 19 points in the second half.  A late run was too little, too late as TCC could not make a large comeback for the second week in a row.  "We just need the entire team to show up!  We are one of the better teams in the league when we have our full compliment of players" said a frustrated Randy Pifer.

TCC has four games left in the season and will need to turn things around quickly to salvage this once promising season.  Next up is rival Fairview Baptist next Monday Night.  A win on rivalry night would be a great place to jump start the last month of the season and finish the season strong.

Thursday, January 11, 2018

Tuesday, January 9, 2018

TCC v Edwards Road Full Game Video


TCC Makes Valiant Comeback, Falls Just Short* to Edwards Road

by TCCNN Reporter Randy Pifer
Updated at 9:34 PM on 1/9/18

*Critical Note:  After review of the tape, the scorekeeper missed 3 points that TCC scored.  TCC actually took the lead late in the game and the outcome and decisions they made down the stretch would have been different had the score been correct.  TCC accepts the loss, but it will not be without an * in the record book.

TCC, playing without three starters and their first game in two weeks, showed rust early as they dug themselves into a hole falling behind by as many as sixteen points.  Then Ryan LaPierre struck.  LaPierre scored a season high 32 points to will his team back into the contest.  Patrick Gomer chipped in 14 points and Daniel Brown played his best all around game of the year with 8 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals.  "We started in a zone defense but they were killing us from the three point line" said Jonathan Chasten.  "Coach made the decision to switch to man and that allowed us to put more pressure on them and start to claw our way back into the game."

"I was proud of how our team fought back" said Coach LaPierre.  "We were running on fumes, but the guys fought through and gave us a chance to win the game" added Brown.  Randy Pifer, who had been shooting 70% from the field coming into the game, struggled all night shooting.  He shot 0-6 and finished with 0 points.  "We didn't have the new official league ball tonight.  It felt like a foreign object in my hands" he said as he made excuse after excuse.  The rest of the team wasn't buying it.

Hugh Carson missed the first game of his career so he could watch the National Championship game.  Coach LaPierre was disappointed and promised there would be repercussions at practice this week.  Upon seeing that Georgia lost in overtime to Alabama, LaPierre changed his mind and said "he suffered enough last night".  Jordan Cobb and Ben Davis also missed the game but no excuses were given for their absence.  They will be dealt with internally.

With the first five games of the season over, TCC stands at 3-2* on the season.  This is now where they expected to be at this point.  The goal of an undefeated season was lost on opening night when they blew a big lead to Taylors, and a disputed loss last night to Edwards Road has the team searching for answers.  "We have now played every team in the league.  There should be no surprises as we go into the second half of the year and play each team for the second time" said Rome Lawson.