Boys basketball

Strong second half lifts Owls to season-opening win

CORYDON

Seymour senior R.J. Kleber found himself at the free throw line twice in the final 16 seconds of Tuesday’s season-opening game at Corydon Central.

He calmly sank all four, giving the Owls a 53-52 win.

"The kids showed true grit tonight," said Owls coach Tyler Phillips, noting some of the players didn’t have much varsity experience. "To have a group of kids … dig in and win a close game on the road like that, that’s just a character and grit thing. You can’t teach that. The kids were determined they weren’t leaving with a loss."

The Owls trailed 12-10 after one quarter and 29-21 at halftime. They then gained momentum by scoring the first 12 points of the second half and went on to outscore the Panthers 15-4 in the third quarter for a 36-33 lead going into the fourth quarter.

Back-to-back 3-pointers by Eric McCoy gave Seymour a 49-46 edge with 2 minutes to go in the game. Corydon used a steal and score and two free throws to take a one-point lead.

After Kleber scored his first two points of the game with a pair of free throws with 16 seconds to go, Corydon scored to regain the lead. Then following a timeout, Kleber drove to the basket, was fouled with 2.8 seconds left and sank two more at the line.

Corydon’s shot at the buzzer bounced off of the rim.

McCoy led Seymour with 18 points, including four 3-pointers, while Corydon’s Joey Wiseman led all scorers with 26 points.

Trinity thumps South Decatur

WESTPORT

Outscoring host South Decatur in the first three quarters of Tuesday’s season-opener boosted Trinity Lutheran to a 75-56 victory.

The visiting Cougars put up 21 points in the first and third quarters to take a 60-37 going into the fourth quarter.

Trinity was led by A.J. Goecker’s 20 points, which included a 10-of-13 shooting performance. Trent Shoemaker was next with 14 points, including four 3-pointers, Kaedon Bright had 12 points, including a pair of 3s, and Tyler Goecker added 10 points.

A.J. Goecker also led Trinity in pulling down seven of the team’s 19 rebounds.

Girls basketball

Owls suffer conference loss on the road

FLOYDS KNOBS

Seymour wasn’t able to score any points in the first quarter of Tuesday’s Hoosier Hills Conference game at Floyd Central, and that hurt the Owls in losing 44-35.

They didn’t score until Aidan Hiester made a 3-pointer early in the second quarter, and the Owls trailed 18-11 at halftime.

Floyd Central took a 27-18 lead into the fourth quarter and held on for the win.

Makenna Fee led Seymour with 16 points and was the only Owl in double figures.