Seymour’s first Hoosier Hills Conference game of the season was decided by turnovers and 3-point shooting. Unfortunately for the visiting Owls, they owned the turnovers.

Jennings County enjoyed the hot shooting, sinking nine 3-pointers, and ran away to a 57-38 victory last Saturday night.

Seymour was left to contemplate its 15 turnovers, 10 of which came in the first half. In three games since committing 20 errors in a loss to Columbus North, the Owls showed much improved ball handling and entered the contest with a two-game winning streak.

“We made it a rough night,” Seymour coach Kirk Manns said. “In the first quarter, we had a chance to grow our lead, but couldn’t because of turnovers. They’re a good basketball team. You can’t keep giving the ball away and be successful. In games where we’ve had trouble this season, we’ve been unable to hang on to the ball.”

Seymour built a 12-8 lead thanks to good defense and a strong start by sophomore forward Eli Meyer, who scored the Owls’ first six points.

The Panthers eventually found their touch from long distance, however. After missing their first four 3-point shots, they succeeded on nine of their next 13 attempts. Three of those 3s came in the second quarter and fueled an 18-6 run that erased Seymour’s early lead and turned the game firmly in JC’s direction.

“They’re good shooters,” Manns said. “You can’t let good shooters have open looks like we did tonight.”

Seymour, meanwhile, attempted just four 3-pointers all night and didn’t connect on any.

The two teams’ offensive styles created a frustrating reality for the Owls, who worked hard for two-point shots, while Jennings County countered with seemingly effortless 3s.

This asymmetry was best illustrated during the third quarter when Seymour made two strong runs at JC’s lead, only to be rebuffed by the Panthers’ long-distance shooting.

The first push came immediately after halftime. Down 28-18, the Owls scored on four straight possessions — all of them layups, by Marcus Brooks, Charlie Longmeier and Meyer (twice).

That good work was offset, however, by consecutive 3s from Owen Law and the aptly named Trey Wilson, which bumped the Panthers’ lead back to 34-26.

Later in the third quarter, following back-to-back mid-range jumpers by Casey Regruth that trimmed Jennings’ lead to 38-33, 3-pointers by Law and Darius Thomas keyed a 10-0 run that ballooned the Panthers’ lead to 48-33 and put the game out of reach.

The Owls’ effort was highlighted by a superlative performance from Meyer, who made 10 of 13 shots and finished with a season-high 22 points. No other Seymour player scored more than four points on Saturday, a fact not lost on Manns.

“I thought Eli did a great job tonight,” Manns said. “He was strong around the basket. He was aggressive. We’ve got to get more basketball out of more players. We need more players to be assertive and aggressive.”

Over the Owls’ last three games, Meyer is averaging 17.6 points.

Jennings County countered with seven players who scored six or more points, led by Keegan Manowitz and Jacob Vogel, who each finished with 10 points.

Saturday’s loss dropped the Owls’ record to 3-3 overall and 0-1 in the HHC. Jennings improved to 4-2 overall and 1-0 in the conference.

At Jennings County

Jennings County 57, Seymour 38

Seymour;10;8;15;5;—;38

Jennings County;8;18;17;14;—;57

Seymour (3-3): Eli Meyer 10 2-4 22, Andrew Levine 2 0-1 4, Marcus Brooks 2 0-0 4, Casey Regruth 2 0-0 4, Charlie Longmeier 1 0-0 2, Landon Fritsch 1 0-0 2, Dylan Fields 0 0-0 0, Bret Perry 0 0-0 0, Donovyn Thomas 0 0-0 0, Will Cottrill 0 0-0 0, Totals 18 2-5 38.

Jennings County (4-2): Keegan Manowitz 3 2-2 10, Jacob Vogel 4 2-2 10, Owen Law 3 1-1 9, Carson McNulty 3 0-0 8, Darius Thomas 3 1-3 8, Trey Wilson 2 0-0 6, Lane Zohrlout 2 2-3 6, Austin Martin 0 0-0 0, Login McIntosh 0 0-0 0, Cole Sigler 0 0-0 0, Justin Ramey 0 0-0 0, Totals 20 8-11 57.

3-point goals: Seymour 0, Jennings County 9 (Wilson 2, McNulty 2, Law 2, Manowitz 2, Thomas).

Rebounds: Seymour 15 (Levine 3, Regruth 3, Fritsch 3, Longmeier 2, Meyer 1, Fields 1, Team 2), Jennings County 24 (Vogel 7).

Turnovers: Seymour 14, Jennings County 13.

Fouls: Seymour 14, Jennings County 11.

Junior varsity

Jennings County 51, Seymour 33

Seymour: Bret Perry 13, Josh Rennekamp 8, Will Cottrill 4, Jack Pennington 4, Evan Smith 3, Donovyn Thomas 1.