NORTH VERNON — A big fourth quarter from Jennings County allowed the Panthers to prevent the Seymour boys basketball team from getting its first win of the season on Saturday night.
Seymour only trailed by two points heading into the fourth and final frame, but Jennings County outscored Seymour 20-7 in the final eight minutes to run away with the game 52-37.
Despite the final score being a 15-point differential, the Owls played the Panthers much closer than that. It was a solid defensive performance from the Owls, who held Jennings County well below their season average of 76.2 points per game coming into Saturday.
Seymour head coach Kirk Manns was pleased with it, and he thought his team missed good looks to get a lead in the game.
“I think we guarded Jennings County probably harder than they have all year, and they were a little out of sorts,” he said. “We missed a lot of good shots during that stretch. We had to be more efficient offensively.”
The Panthers closed the first quarter on a 5-0 run to take a 9-8 lead. After Brady Harpe grabbed an offensive rebound and scored for Seymour, Carter Kent hit a shot just before the clock expired to give Jennings the lead after one.
Jaylan Johnson converted a three-point play the old-fashioned way to give Seymour a 15-14 lead late in the second quarter.
After holding the ball for almost an entire minute, Jennings County’s Keegan Manowitz closed the first half with a driving layup to give the Panthers a three-point advantage at the break.
Manowitz and Lane Zohrlaut each had six for JC at the break, while Seymour was paced by Bret Perry with six of his own.
In the third quarter, Jennings County was able to get its offense going a bit, grabbing some offensive rebounds that didn’t please Manns.
“We had a miserable start defensively to the third quarter,” he said.
The Panthers led 32-23 in the third quarter, but then Seymour closed the gap.
The Owls held them scoreless for the remainder of the quarter. Landon Fritsch hit a big 3-pointer, and then Josh Rennekamp scored inside to make it 32-30.
Rennekamp made what looked like a shot that would tie the game at 32 but was charged with an offensive foul, which was a call that left many questioning it. The Owls defense held up, and they went to the third trailing by just two.
Owen Law and Kent each hit a 3-pointer — Jennings County’s only 3-pointers on the night — to spark their fourth-quarter spurt.
“Two of those 3-pointers were in transition where we simply didn’t do what we needed to in terms of effort and getting back and matchup,” Manns said.
Law and Kent each finished with 11 points on the night, and Manowitz led the Panthers with 16 points.
For Seymour, Perry led the team with 10 points.
“I thought Bret had a really nice rhythm,” Manns said. “The more he continues to get those kinds of shots, he’s really good at curling toward the rim and shooting. It’s just a matter of playing and still getting that football out of him. He’s going to keep getting better.”
Fritsch didn’t score in double digits for the first time all season, as he finished with nine on the night. Johnson scored eight, Rennekamp had four and Eli Meyer, Charlie Longmeier and Harpe each scored two points.
The win improved Jennings County to 7-0 on the season, while Seymour fell to 0-6. The Owls will hope to right the ship on Tuesday as they head to Whiteland in hopes of getting their first victory.
“We have to do a better job of sustaining our mental effort as well as our physical,” Manns said. “I’ve had no problem at all with our physical effort since game one. It has been very good. We’re playing hard enough to be successful. We’re just not playing smart enough yet to get over the hump.”