COLUMBUS — When Saturday night’s game went to overtime, Seymour couldn’t miss.
Brady Harpe hit both of his 3-point attempts and the Owls went 10 of 10 from the free throw line in the extra period to pull out a 60-50 victory at Columbus North.
After Harpe’s two 3s gave Seymour a 50-46 lead, Ethan Silcox stepped to the line and hit four consecutive free throws. Parker Thompson then hit six in a row, allowing the Owls to pull away.
Seymour went 23 of 25 from the line for the game.
“You get to the line 25 times and you make 23, you have a pretty good chance to win,” Seymour coach Kirk Manns said.
The Bull Dogs (0-2) led 10-2 early before the Owls (2-0) answered with a 13-4 run to take a 15-14 lead. North led 22-21 at halftime and 36-31 after three quarters.
Seymour used back-to-back 3-pointers from Harpe to take a 39-38 lead with 5 1/2 minutes remaining. The Bull Dogs came back to take a 44-41 lead, but the Owls got a basket and free throw from Jaylan Johnson to tie it at 44. After an exchange of turnovers, North played for the final shot, and a 3-pointer from Nolan Pickup from the left corner bounced off the rim.
“We did get off to a slow start, and that slow start could have very well buried us,” Manns said. “We have a young team unsure of how we were going to respond, and we did respond. We kept doing what we do. We kept playing hard. We kept trying to plug away. We got a couple runouts, we got a couple steals and before you know it, we had taken that (eight)-point lead down to three or four, and that kind of changed the whole game going into the second half.
“Going into the second half, I was concerned about us being able to rebound the ball on the defensive end,” he added. “I thought that could be the difference in the game, if we were able to get some big rebounds and keep them off the glass.”
Johnson scored 20 of his game-high 23 points in the first three quarters and led Seymour with seven rebounds. Harpe had 14 of his 16 in the fourth quarter and overtime.
“Jaylan in particular the first three quarters of the game was carrying us offensively, and he was keeping us in the game,” Manns said. “He was able to get to the basket. He was able to get to the free throw line. He was making free throws. He was making 10-foot shots, layups.
“Then late in the game, Brady steps up. Brady hits four 3-pointers toward the end of the game and the overtime, which were all pressure shots, and then we were able to close it off with different guys stepping up and making free throws, Parker Thompson and Ethan Silcox particularly, in that overtime period.”
The Owls now turn their attention to Friday’s rivalry game with Brownstown Central.
“I hope we can keep building,” Manns said. “I think we’re going to get better. As a young team, I think we’re just going to continue to improve, but we have to keep doing the things that we’re capable of doing, and hopefully, we can do the ordinary things better than the other team.”
High School Basketball
Seymour;6;15;10;13;16;—;60
Columbus North;12;10;14;8;6;—;50
Seymour (2-0): Brady Harpe 5 2-2 16, Bret Perry 1 0-0 2, Parker Thompson 1 6-6 8, Michael Brooks 1 0-0 2, Ethan Silcox 2 4-4 9, Jaylan Johnson 6 11-13 23, Evan Unterseher 0 0-0 0. Totals: 16 23-25 60.
Columbus North (0-2): Mason Acton 2 0-0 5, Caleb Ferguson 6 7-10 21, Nate Enneking 3 0-0 6, Max Coomes 0 0-0 0, Nolan Pickup 2 3-4 9, Ben Ferguson 1 0-0 2, Drew Schiefer 1 1-2 3, Garrett Long 1 2-2 4. Totals: 16 13-18 50.
3-point goals: Seymour 5 (Harpe 4, Silcox); Columbus North 5 (C. Ferguson 2, Pickup 2, Acton)