By ANDREW
FEEBACK
With a 17-point run to end the first half, the Southern Wells boys’ basketball team picked up a 58-42 win over the visiting Muncie Burris Owls Tuesday evening.
The lead changed hands a few times in the early going, but the Raiders (3-10) found themselves down 20-16 after consecutive buckets by the Owls (1-10).
Over the last five minutes of the first half, the Raiders outscored the Owls 17-0 to gain a decisive edge, getting some help from their bench in the process.
“I think it was a nice combination of getting stops, turning the other team over, and turning that into transition baskets,” coach Joel Roush said. “When a team has a hard time scoring, like we have in the past, those easy baskets are gold. We found some of that tonight, and it was just really nice for our guys to get some easy baskets.”
Evan Pennington got it started with a fast-break bucket plus a foul. On the next possession, freshman Landon Johnson came off the bench and hit a three-pointer that gave the Raiders the lead for good.
Caleb Johnson also chipped in off the bench with a bucket, Chandler Oswalt made a triple, Pennington made two free throws and Landon Johnson drilled a second trey to end the half, which saw the Raiders up 33-20.
The Owls gave the Raiders a different look defensively in the second half, and Southern Wells went into a bit of a lull.
“They changed defenses on us, and it was something we hadn’t seen,” Roush said. “We were just being too passive. We just weren’t aggressive enough.”
Muncie Burris used a 13-5 burst to pull within 38-33 after Cole Conaster sank a three-pointer while being fouled. He couldn’t complete the four-point play, and the Raiders regained control after that.
Oswalt hit a corner three early in the fourth quarter and Caleb Johnson meshed in a short jumper to push the lead back to ten. Following a basket from Conaster, Perrin Gates put back his own miss, scored off a nice cut to the hoop, and got a transition layup that had the Raiders up 51-37 with 2:46 to play.
Two more layups from Oswalt had the lead up to 15, and the Raiders cashed in at the foul line the rest of the way.
“Once we became aggressive again and started attacking, we were a lot more successful,” Roush said.
Gates led the Raiders with 14 points, while Oswalt had 13. Andrew Aker added nine, while Pennington and Landon Johnson both had eight.
Conaster’s 16 topped the Owls, while Asher Donahue had 15.
Southern Wells will travel to South Adams Friday night starting at 7:30 p.m.
A two-quarter junior varsity game went to Burris, 33-21. Landon Johnson scored nine points, Trey Slusher had five, Joshua Aulbach had four and Wade Tappy added three.
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SOUTHERN WELLS 58,
MUNCIE BURRIS 42
At Southern Wells
MUNCIE BURRIS (1-10): Hayden Evans 0-0 0-0 0, Jasper Oldfield 0-1 0-0 0, Leo Le 0-0 0-0 0, Drew Haney 2-8 0-0 4, Cole Conaster 7-16 1-1 16, Kalen Russell 0-1 0-0 0, Rees Cook 1-6 0-2 2, Timo Minnich 0-0 0-0 0, Moses Smith 1-4 0-0 2, Asher Donahue 6-16 0-1 15, Haoyang Zhang 1-1 1-2 3. TOTALS: 18-53 2-6 42.
SOUTHERN WELLS (3-10): Trey Slusher 0-0 0-0 0, Landon Johnson 3-4 0-0 8, Andrew Aker 3-9 0-2 9, Caleb Johnson 2-2 0-0 4, CJ Reber 1-5 0-1 2, Evan Pennington 2-6 4-10 8, Chandler Oswalt 5-16 0-0 13, Joshua Aulbach 0-0 0-0 0, Perrin Gates 6-9 2-5 14. TOTALS: 22-51 6-18 58.
Muncie Burris 15 5 13 9 — 42
Southern Wells 13 20 7 18 — 58
Three-point Goals: Muncie Burris 4-23 (Donahue 3-8, Conaster 1-5, Haney 0-6, Cook 0-2, Smith 0-1, Russell 0-1), Southern Wells 8-25 (Oswalt 3-12, Aker 3-8, Landon Johnson 2-3, Reber 0-2). Rebounds: Muncie Burris 30 (Donahue 9, Cook 6, Conaster 6, Oldfield 5, Russell 2, Haney 1, Smith 1), Southern Wells 27 (Pennington 6, Gates 5, Aker 5, Oswalt 5, Reber 4, Caleb Johnson 1, Landon Johnson 1). Turnovers: Muncie Burris 14, Southern Wells 12. Fouls: Muncie Burris 19, Southern Wells 15. Fouled out: None. Technicals: None.
JV: Muncie Burris 33, Southern Wells 21.
