Seymour’s boys basketball team picked up another quality win on Saturday night when it subdued a red-hot Jennings County squad, 72-53.

The visiting Panthers entered the contest riding a five-game winning streak during which they averaged 74 points, a 28-point margin of victory and nearly 10 3-pointers per contest.

Seymour’s defense, however, never allowed Jennings’ sharp shooters to get comfortable, limiting the Panthers to 6-for-26 shooting from 3-point range (23 percent) and just 30 points over the game’s first three quarters.

“The real key was the way we guarded tonight,” Seymour head coach Kirk Manns said.

The Owls’ offense asserted itself, too, and reached a new milestone. For the first time in Manns’ 51-game stint as Seymour’s coach, the Owls scored over 70 points, bettering their previous high output of 69 in a win over Austin last season.

Saturday’s 19-point win was Seymour’s fifth over Jennings in the two teams’ last seven games. The Owls now own a three-game win streak, hold a 5-1 season record and improved to 2-0 in the Hoosier Hills Conference.

“We have a confident group of guys right now,” Manns said. “We just have to keep it that way. They’re doing things right. They’re playing with energy, with good concentration and most of all they’re playing together.”

The game’s opening minutes didn’t portend the eventual dominant outcome. Jennings County jumped to an 8-0 lead as Seymour missed its first four shots and generally looked out of sorts.

Manns called a timeout to settle his team and quickly got the intended response. The Owls embarked on a game-changing 15-0 run and never trailed thereafter.

“Landon (Fritsch) got an open 3-pointer and from that point on we started getting into a rhythm,” Manns said.

Fritsch made five first-half 3-pointers to spark Seymour. Late in the second quarter, he scored eight straight points to swell the Owls’ lead to 32-18.

“Once you see one go in, you get that feeling that the next one is going to go in, too,” Fritsch said. “I was getting open and shooting the right shots, and they were falling. My teammates were getting me open.”

Fritsch scored 17 of his team-high 19 points in the first half.

In the second half, Andrew Levine, Eli Meyer and Marcus Brooks provided the offensive boost. Levine scored all six of his points in the third quarter, including a steal and layup that gave Seymour a 46-28 lead.

Meyer and Brooks each scored nine points in the fourth quarter to help the Owls resist a comeback attempt that saw Jennings County narrow the score to 56-49 with 3:50 remaining in the game.

“The fourth quarter became an open-gym, it was out of control,” Manns said. “But I was pleased with the way we responded.”

Fritsch, Meyer, Brooks, Charlie Longmeier and Bret Perry combined to shoot 16 for 20 from the foul line during the final period to help Seymour restore a double-digit lead.

“You just have to step up there and hit them,” said Meyer of his team’s foul shooting. “The difference between good teams and great teams is if they can hit free throws late in the game.”

Brooks finished with 17 points, while Meyer ended with 15. Perry and Longmeier each added six points.

For the sixth time in six games, the Owls outrebounded their opponent. Casey Regruth’s nine rebounds and Brooks’ six lifted Seymour to a 25-23 advantage on the boards.

When asked about the best start for Seymour’s boys basketball in decades, players and coaches quickly talked about culture.

“The culture of our program has definitely changed,” Fritsch said. “We work hard and put a lot of effort into it, and that’s starting to pay off.”

Meyer agreed, adding, “Our culture is the difference for us. We don’t really have a star player right now. I think that really helps us a lot. Any of us can go out there and lead.”

Said Manns, “Culture is something we’ve been trying to build since 2019, but you’ve got to have the right group of guys who want to put in extra work, who want to be together, who want to get coached hard. We’ve got a group that’s willing to do that right now. Hopefully they’re paving the way for future classes to come through here.”

Of course, head coaches are paid to keep emotions in check and Manns couldn’t resist taking a peek at his team’s difficult upcoming schedule.

“If we can keep playing well, we’ll have a lot of moments that we can enjoy like this,” Manns said. “But I’ll say this: we play a physical Whiteland team on Tuesday and then New Albany the following week. Our schedule doesn’t get any lighter.”