By ANDREW FEEBACK
If it wasn’t one thing, it was another for the Southern Wells boys’ basketball team Tuesday night.
Turnovers, missed shots and a lack of size up front all, added up to a 57-40 loss to the visiting Southwood Knights.
The score didn’t even seem to reflect how one-sided it felt at times, with the Raiders trailing by nearly 30 in the second half.
The Knights (2-4) relentlessly came after the Raiders with a 2-3 zone that stretched out to half-court, trapping the ball and forcing the Raiders to make quick decisions. This led to 19 turnovers, and when the Knights weren’t stealing the ball, the Raiders seemed hesitant to shoot it.
“I wasn’t as pleased as I would like to be with our aggression offensively,” coach Joel Roush said. “We wanted to attack that zone, we wanted to get it in the gaps and attack the basket. For some reason, we were reluctant to do so.”
When they did shoot, the Raiders weren’t finding the net too often. They finished 16 of 52 overall and were just 2 of 15 on three-point shots.
Southern Wells led 5-0 early after Chandler Oswalt hit one of those triples and CJ Reber made a layup.
Then, Southwood’s pressure started taking its toll. The Raiders turned it over five times in the opening quarter and saw the visitors go on an 11-2 run.
It became a 17-2 run early in the second, drawing a Raider timeout.
The Raiders’ other three-pointer, courtesy of Caleb Johnson, along with a basket from Evan Pennington and a free throw from Perrin Gates, had Southern Wells within striking distance at 19-13.
Southwood ended the half with 10 straight points, and it only got worse from there.
The Knights’ size on the interior posed a huge matchup problem for the Raiders.
Bryce Wilcox, a 6-6 forward, along with a 6-3 forward in Dalton Barney, combined for 20 points in the paint and blocked a handful of shots on the defensive end. Wilcox led all scorers with 14 points.
Will Winer, a 6-3 guard, also chipped in 10 points for the Knights.
The Raiders’ lack of size was apparent throughout the night, though they were only out-rebounded by four.
With such an advantage in the front-court, the Knights saw little need to attempt any threes, finishing with two makes on just five tries.
Southwood used a 13-0 run in the third quarter to take a 46-17 lead, largely thanks to the play of Maddox Marshall, who was the third Knight to reach double figures with 13 points.
The Raiders outscored the Knights by 10 in the final frame to make the score a bit more respectable.
Perrin Gates topped the Raiders with 12 points while Chandler Oswalt had 11.
Roush wants his team to be more aggressive on offense going forward.
“We’re so aggressive and so connected defensively, I would like that to transfer over to the other end of the floor,” he said.
Southern Wells will be off until a week from this Thursday. On Dec. 28, the Raiders will travel to Union City for a two-day tournament, in which they will face Elwood and Union City on the first day, and then one of Eastern Greentown, Randolph Southern or Bluffton on the second day.
Southern Wells lost the JV game 67-30. Landon Johnson scored 11 points, Joshua Aulbach had 10, Trey Slusher had six and Wade Tappy added three.
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SOUTHWOOD 57,
SOUTHERN WELLS 40
At Southern Wells
SOUTHWOOD (2-4): Keaton Metzger 0-0 0-0 0, Caleb Wyatt 0-3 0-0 0, Maddox Marshall 5-7 2-3 13, Will Winer 5-9 0-0 10, Griffin Chambers 3-6 1-2 8, Jaret Denney 1-5 0-0 2, Bo Liddick 1-3 0-0 2, Bryce Wilcox 6-13 2-2 14, Dalton Barney 3-5 0-2 6, Randy Boone 1-2 0-0 2. TOTALS: 25-53 5-9 57.
SOUTHERN WELLS (1-5): Trey Slusher 0-0 0-0 0. Landon Johnson 0-0 0-0 0, Andrew Aker 0-5 0-0 0, Caleb Johnson 3-6 0-0 7, CJ Reber 1-5 2-2 4, Evan Pennington 3-5 0-2 6, Chandler Oswalt 4-17 2-3 11, Joshua Aulbach 0-1 0-0 0, Perrin Gates 5-13 2-5 12. TOTALS: 16-52 6-12 40.
Southwood 11 18 19 9 – 57
Southern Wells 7 6 8 19 – 40
Three-point Goals: Southwood 2-5 (Marshall 1-1, Chambers 1-3, Liddick 0-1), Southern Wells 2-15 (Caleb Johnson 1-2, Oswalt 1-8, Aker 0-3, Reber 0-2). Rebounds: Southwood 29 (Wilcox 10, Barney 5, Denney 5, Wyatt 4, Boone 2, Marshall 1, Winer 1, Chambers 1), Southern Wells 25 (Gates 11, Aker 5, Pennington 4, Oswalt 2, Reber 2, Landon Johnson 1). Turnovers: Southwood 11, Southern Wells 19. Fouls: Southwood 16, Southern Wells 10. Fouled out: None. Technicals: None.
JV: Southwood 67, Southern Wells 30.
