SCOTTSBURG
Despite two double-digit losses Saturday, the Crothersville boys basketball team knows there are still plenty of games left this season.
The eight-team Scott County Invitational featured some quality squads, and the Tigers wound up 0-3 in the two-day event.
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After losing to Scottsburg 57-40 on Friday, Crothersville suffered a 64-49 loss to South Central on Saturday morning and a 65-50 setback to Austin that afternoon.
In the first game, the Tigers led by one point at halftime. Then in the other two, they were within two and four points, respectively, at halftime.
“We hope to take away the fact from these two games just today that if we limit our turnovers and get shot attempts, we’re going to be a decent ball team,” Tigers coach Greg Kilgore said after the Austin game. “We may struggle to shoot at times, but I would rather take my chances with a 15-foot jumper than throwing the ball in the bleachers. You don’t get any points for those.”
Crothersville went from committing 21 turnovers against South Central to only nine against Austin. The difference in the Austin game, though, was a low shooting percentage.
“We shot 31 percent, and a lot of those are kids that we want shooting and shots that they usually make, and we have those days,” Kilgore said. “This morning’s game, (Josh) Thomas struggled a little bit, and this afternoon’s game, (Logan) Brewer struggled a little bit, and I told them we are going to have those days, but I’d rather have them Dec. 22 than Feb. 28 or March 5 or whatever sectional time is.”
On Saturday morning, Crothersville opened an 18-12 lead after eight minutes, but South Central surged ahead 25-23 by halftime.
The Rebels then kept the foot on the gas, outscoring the Tigers 16-9 in the third quarter and maintaining the lead.
Brewer led all scorers with 26 points, and Thomas was next for the Tigers with 10.
South Central (4-4) had four in double figures with Lucas Stewart leading with 16 points.
“I think anybody that gets on the floor at 9 in the morning after playing at 7:30 (Friday) night is probably going to be a little flat,” Kilgore said. “That comes with the territory, but South Central was here at 9 in the morning, too. They weren’t as flat as we were.”
In the seventh-place game, four of Austin’s starters scored in the first quarter to lift the team to an 18-8 advantage.
Crothersville maintained its composure and stormed back by opening the second quarter on a 10-2 run behind a field goal by Thomas, 3-pointers by Lane Wienhorst and Cable Spall and two free throws by Brewer.
Thomas, Brewer and Austin’s Drew Buhr each made two free throws, and the game was tied at 22 with 2:54 to go in the half.
Buhr then made a pair of baskets and Brenden Mosier scored to lift the Eagles to a 30-26 edge at the break.
The big difference in the game was the third quarter when Austin outscored Crothersville 21-6. The Eagles maintained a double-digit lead the rest of the way.
The closest Crothersville came from there was 61-50 on a 3-pointer by Timmy Burton with 1:20 to go.
Thomas led the Tigers (5-4) with 18 points, and Spall finished with 13.
Buhr led all scorers with 21 points, while Trey Hargrave had 14 and Mosier added 13 for Austin (2-8).
On Friday, Crothersville will play two games in the McKee Munk Invitational at Henryville, starting with Providence Cristo Rey.