By ANDREW FEEBACK
ELWOOD— The Southern Wells Raiders weren’t able to weather a late first-half run by the host Elwood Panthers and fell 58-40 Tuesday night.
Elwood (6-11) closed the first half with a 14-5 flurry after the Raiders had drawn within 23-17, and the Raiders were battling uphill the rest of the way.
The Panthers made 14 of 26 shots in the first half, most of them coming in the paint and near the basket.
“I don’t think it was bad defense, so much as we just weren’t focused on the details that we worked on for three or four days trying to get ready for them,” coach Joel Roush said. “We knew (number) 32 was a load in the post, we wanted to limit his touches, and when he did catch it, we wanted to send him to his left hand, and we didn’t do that in the first half.”
Roush was referring to Panther senior Hunter Sallee, who led all scorers with 19 points and also grabbed 12 rebounds.
“He must have scored six or seven baskets going to his right hand,” Roush continued. “We never made him do anything different, which was part of the scouting report.”
In addition to its first-half shooting, Elwood turned the ball over just once before halftime.
The Raiders had just five miscues of their own in that timeframe but struggled to generate much offense.
The Panthers got 15 points from their point guard, Jayden Reese, and 11 from Beau Brandon.
Chandler Oswalt topped the Raiders with 14 points, while Kedrik Sonnigsen and Evan Pennington both had eight.
It was difficult to find many bright spots for the Raiders (4-12) in this one. They were still within striking distance after a Sonningsen three-pointer early in the fourth quarter made it 46-34, but they managed only one point over the next five minutes.
“They’re like us. They’ve struggled to score this year,” Roush said. “What happens is you let that team start to believe, and then the basket looks bigger for them. That was probably the deciding factor in the first half.
“I don’t know that this was a step back; it’s still a loss,” he continued. “We wanted to win this one. Obviously, we want to win all of them. It was not a step forward, maybe a lateral. I thought we played really hard in the second half, and our attention to detail was better. But if we’re going to be successful, we have to do that for four quarters, not two.”
Southern Wells will travel to Woodlan Friday night.
The Raiders took the JV game 49-40. Levi Woodward scored 16 points, while Bryar Gearheart had 15, and CJ Reber added nine.
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ELWOOD 58,
SOUTHERN WELLS 40
At Elwood High School
SOUTHERN WELLS (4-12): Kedrik Sonnigen 2-9 3-4 8, Nick Lozoya 0-1 0-0 0, Andrew Aker 1-4 0-0 3, Jenson Nusbaumer 0-1 0-0 0, Bryar Gearheart 0-0 0-0 0, Evan Pennington 4-10 0-0 8, Tucker Worster 0-0 0-0 0, Chandler Oswalt 5-17 2-4 14, CJ Reber 0-0 0-0 0, Tristen Worster 0-0 0-0 0, Gage Roberts 1-1 0-0 2, Quinton Mullins 0-0 0-0 0, Perrin Gates 2-2 1-5 5. TOTALS: 15-37 6-13 40.
ELWOOD (6-11): Jayden Reese 7-17 1-2 15, Jayden Mullins 1-2 2-2 4, Zane Henry 0-0 0-0 0, Beau Brandon 4-5 1-1 11, Jackson Blackford 2-4 2-2 7, Xavier Davenport 0-0 0-0 0, Hunter Sallee 7-13 5-7 19, Kaden Sullivan 1-1 0-0 2, Gage Blackford 0-2 0-0 0. TOTALS: 22-44 11-14 58.
So. Wells 11 11 9 9 — 40
Elwood 19 18 9 12 — 58
Three-point Goals: Southern Wells 4-13 (Oswalt 2-6, Sonnigsen 1-3, Aker 1-3, Lozoya 0-1), Elwood 3-8 (Jackson Blackford 1-2, Brandon 2-2, Gage Blackford 0-2, Reese 0-2). Rebounds: Southern Wells 24 (Gates 6, Sonnigsen 6, Pennington 3, Nusbaumer 3, Roberts 2, Oswalt 2, Lozoya 2), Elwood 27 (Sallee 12, Reese 5, Mullins 3, Henry 2, Brandon 2, Jackson Blackford 2, Sullivan 1). Turnovers: Southern Wells 12, Elwood 8. Fouls: Southern Wells 18, Elwood 12. Fouled out: None. Technicals: None.
JV: Southern Wells 49, Elwood 40.
