The Seymour girls and boys basketball teams hosted Jennings County for a varsity-only doubleheader Friday at the Lloyd E. Scott Gymnasium.
While the girls pulled out a win, the boys fell in extra minutes to the visitors.
Late run lifts Owls’ girls
Following 24 minutes of tightly contested play, Seymour’s girls basketball team outscored Jennings County 22-9 in the fourth quarter to earn a 57-48 win.
Both teams struggled to find offensive rhythms in the opening half.
The first quarter saw a pair of big runs.
Seymour scored eight unanswered points to open the game behind four free throws from Lauren James and baskets by Sarah Benefiel and Makenna Fee.
The Panthers responded by going on a 10-0 scoring streak in part of five points by Sidney Gerkin.
Fee sank two free throws to tie the game at 10-10 after eight minutes of play.
The Panthers hit back-to-back 3-pointers, from Baylee Byford and Emma McPeek, to go up 19-13 at the 3:35 mark.
Scores by the Owls’ Aidan Hiester and Megan Ritz leveled the game at 22-22 before the halftime buzzer.
Despite the Panthers’ 11 total fouls, the Owls shot just three-for-nine from the free-throw line in the second quarter.
A 3-pointer and free throws from James tied the game at 27-27 at 6:03 before the Panthers went on a 7-2 run to earn a five point lead.
Gerkin hit a 3-pointer to conclude the scoring in the third quarter as the Panthers led 39-35.
A trey by James and baskets from Fee and Griffin got the Owls back on top at 42-39 at the 5:21 in the fourth quarter.
From the 5:01 to 3:15 marks the Owls outscored the Panthers 8-2.
In the final 2:26, the Owls went 7-for 10 to seal the game.
“I thought that Kayla Griffin stood up and took over the game offensively and on the boards,” Owls coach Jason Longmeier said. “We went to her more and she wanted it more. We found late in the game we would have more success with her in the middle of the paint rather than in the post on the block.
“They were really collapsing on the block and eliminating our options of kicking-out on it. When she attacked in the middle good things happened.”
Griffin had four points and five rebounds in the final eight minutes of play.
James led the Owls with 17 points on 11 made free throws, Fee added 15 to go along with 12 rebounds and Ritz scored 10 off the bench.
“I thought Megan Ritz was tremendous tonight,” Longmeier said. “She brought some energy on the perimeter and rebounded well. I think one thing we found out tonight is how important all of our top-seven kids are. We will need to stay healthy in order to make a run down the stretch.”
Ritz saw some extended minutes with injured starter Ashton Chase not suiting up.
“They were playing off Megan a little bit, and one thing we told her at halftime was to attack the rim,” Longmeier said. “She really did that, and I thought she was great tonight.”
Today, the Owls will travel to Borden, weather-permitting. Seymour has a tough schedule ahead, with Jeffersonville, Scottsburg, New Albany and Columbus East all coming up.
“The older I get the more I enjoy every one of (the wins),” Longmeier siad. “Outside of Borden, we have four really tough games coming up. Scottsburg can beat anyone on any given night depending on how they play. They have one of the best players in southern Indiana. We’re going to have to shoot the ball better and stay healthy.”
Boys lose in extra minutes
Jennings County outscored Seymour 7-1 in overtime to leave the Lloyd E. Scott Gymnasium with a 62-56 win Friday night.
The Panthers made seven of eight free throws in the extra period, while the Owls were 1 for 4 at the line. The Owls committed four turnovers in the extra period while the Panthers had one.
“This game had a lot of special meaning because of the way the game went down in December,” Owls assistant coach Dustin George said, referring to a 55-54 loss on the Panthers’ floor on Dec. 17.
“This was probably the best overall game that we’ve played as far as executing. I thought we shot the ball decently well.”
The Owls shot for 18-for-43 for the night and the Panthers shot 25-for-43.
Chase Ketcham, who did not score a point in regulation, madefive of six free throws in the extra period, and Kenneth Jones hit the other two.
Jennings County extended its 11-point halftime lead to 12 at 47-35 with 3:10 left in the third period.
Alan Perry scored five points, Ty McCory hit a 3-pointer and Tyler Bloom added a basket as the Owls cut their deficit to 47-45 at the end of the period.
Seymour tied the game at 54-54 all on two free throws by Perry with 1:57 remaining.
Tiller Cummings made a free throw with 1:14 remaining to tie the game at 55.
The Owls got the ball back and held possession for the final minute.
As they were setting up for their final shot, the ball rolled loose near the free-throw line. The Owls recovered, and Bloom shot a desperation shot from between the circles that was short, and the game went into overtime.
The Panthers were hot from the start as they made eight of 14 from the floor in the first quarter to open up a 19-7 lead, then followed up with 8-for-13 in the second period to lead 39-28 at the break.
The Owls held a 5-4 lead following a rebound basket by Seth Ragon two minutes into the game. The Panthers, sparked by nine points by Tyler Vogel, went on a 17-2 run to build their lead.
The teams traded points throughout the second period, with McCory’s third 3-pointer of the quarter pulling the Owls to within 25-19 with 5:15 on the clock.
Nick AmRhein and Vogel hit two 3-pointers each over the final 4:40 of the half to help the Panthers to their 39-28 lead at the half.
McCory scored nine and Bloom scored eight in the second quarter for the Owls and Vogel had 10 points in that quarter.
Perry and Bloom topped the Owls in scoring with 14 points each, and McCory scored 12.
AmRhein topped the Panthers (10-3) with 21 points and Vogel scored 19.
Seymour (3-8) will host Columbus East tonight for a Hoosier Hills Conference game.