For The Tribune
The drought is over for the Seymour boys basketball team when it comes to posting wins in the Seymour Class 4A Sectional.
The Owls rallied in the fourth quarter and in overtime to defeat Jeffersonville 54-53 in the opening game of the sectional Tuesday night in the Lloyd E. Scott Gymnasium.
Seymour’s most recent sectional win came against Bedford North Lawrence 62-46 in the 2007 postseason.
Owls coach Tyler Phillips had a good feeling in the locker room before the game that his team would leave the floor with a win.
“The kids were determined that they weren’t going to lose it,” Phillips said. “The seniors decided they weren’t done playing basketball yet. Whatever it took they were going to do it to win. I could see it in their eyes before we took the floor.
“They love this. They’ve had fun this year with me, and I’ve had fun with them. It wasn’t going to happen. They weren’t going to lose this game tonight.”
The Red Devils (14-11) took the lead 51-49 at 2:18 in overtime on two free throws by Bailey Falkenstein.
Seymour tied the score when Jordan Miller drove along the baseline for a layup for his only points of the game for a 51-51 score with 1:57 remaining. Jeff regained the lead on two free throws by Tre Coleman with 1:04 on the clock.
Alan Perry converted a 3-point play with nine seconds remaining that proved to be the deciding points.
Jacob Jones had a chance to tie the game with two free throws with three seconds remaining, but he made only the first, and Alex Hofer grabbed the rebound for the Owls. He was fouled with 2.8 seconds remaining but missed the free throws, and Falkenstein’s desperation shot was off target and the Owls celebrated.
The Red Devils held a 34-31 lead entering the fourth quarter before Tyler Bloom’s 3-pointer tied the score at 34 all.
Bloom made three 3-pointers in the fourth period, including one from the left wing with three seconds remaining that tied the score at 49.
Jeffersonville was called for a travel and the Owls missed a desperation shot, and the game went into overtime.
Phillips said it was the goal of his team to control tempo as the Red Devils led 10-9 at the end of the first period and 25-20 at the half.
“We looked at Jeff on paper, and when they score 63 points or less they were 0-8. Our goal coming out was 14 points a quarter. We played the overtime and they finished with 53.
“We wanted our offense to be our best defense. We tracked time of possession tonight and we won that going away.”
Perry had two baskets and Ty McCory hit a 3-pointer to lead the Owls offensively in the first period. Dylan Wilson gave the Owls a spark off the bench in the second quarter with five points, including a 3-pointer, and Bloom also hit a three in the second quarter.
Perry had two baskets and a free throws, and Bloom hit another 3-pointer in the third period.
Perry topped the Owls (9-14) with 18 points and Bloom scored 17. Tiller Cummings led the Owls in rebounds with eight.
Falkenstein was the only Jefferson player in double figures as he scored 17.
Phillips said this was definitely one of the Owls’ best performances of the season.
“Everything up to this point was just getting us ready for tonight,” he said. “Now you’re in a situation where if you don’t go 1-0 you’re done. Every trial and tribulation the kids have had led them to this tonight.
“Everybody that stepped on the floor did exactly what was asked of them, and exactly what was expected of them. That started Saturday when we started scouting report son Jeffersonville. The kids knew they couldn’t show up and win tonight, they had to be prepared. They did everything to prepare and they earned this one tonight.”
The Owls will play Floyd Central on Friday night at 6 p.m. in the sectional’s semifinals.
