Patrick Shields and Tidioute rolled past Forest Area on Senior Night.

Tidioute didn’t mess around on Senior Night against visiting Forest Area.

Jared Veasey poured in a game-high 24 points as the Bulldogs got out to a 23-5 lead and cruised to a 66-57 win over the Fires that wasn’t as close as the final score indicated.

“We started out very strong,” said Tidioute coach Terry Cotterman. “Then we relaxed a little bit. It wasn’t our best game, but we came out with a win.”

More than anything, Tuesday showed just how for the Bulldogs (12-6) have come.

“This group got beat a lot as freshmen and just kept growing,” Cotterman said. “This year, we’re never satisfied. That’s a good thing. Even though we’re up 20 at halftime, the kids weren’t happy. They were just pressing, trying to do so well. The Place was packed and I just think we were trying to score too quick at times.”

Patrick Shields, although he didn’t have a big game on offense, was still very productive with 14 rebounds and 4 steals, while Ryan Williams had 4 assists and Veasey 11 rebounds. Maison Deloe also had 10 points.

Cotterman also noted the strong play of Alex Sabella and Dalton Kennedy off the bench, saying they ‘gave us great minutes.’

And, while the Bulldogs have an eye on the postseason, they still have two big regular season games left, beginning with Region 3-leading Cochranton on Friday.

“This is well-deserved for them,” Cotterman said. “We have two regular season games left. This group has done everything I’ve asked of them.”

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FOREST (57)

Meals 4-2-14, Quinn 4-1-9, Miller 3-1-7, Burke 3-2-8, Grubbs 1-0-3, Thompson 1-2-4, Spuck 4-0-12, Totals 20-8-57

TIDIOUTE (66)

Shields 2-1-6, Veasey 15-4-34, Williams 1-0-3, Klos 2-1-5, Deloe 5-0-10, Kennedy 0-2-2, Sabella 2-0-6, Totals 27-8-66

By Quarters

Forest 5 14 20 18 – 57

Tidioute 23 16 14 11 – 66

Three-point FGs: Forest (9) – Meals 4, Spuck 4; Tidioute (4) – Sabella 2, Shields, Williams