When the game’s foul situation caused matchups to evolve, Seymour girls basketball coach Jason Longmeier turned to his Twin Towers lineup and got the results he was looking for.
The Owls’ two 6-foot seniors, Journee Brown and Claire Marshall, combined for 31 points and 16 rebounds, leading Seymour (6-5) to a 57-47 win over Madison (7-3) on Saturday.
Brown ended the game with a double-double consisting of 20 points and 11 rebounds. Her nine points during a second-quarter surge helped Seymour dig out of first-quarter hole.
Marshall, meanwhile, scored 11 points and grabbed five rebounds. Maybe more important were her three assists and a steal that prolonged a 17-3 second-quarter run by the Owls.
“We won this game with Journee and Claire, no doubt about it,” Longmeier said. “They were finding each other and getting easy buckets when we needed them. We’ve struggled from outside the last couple of games, but we hit three big 3s, so you’ve got to give our guards credit, too.”
Indeed, Brown’s wasn’t the only double-double for Seymour. Senior guard Kendall Sterling grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds and scored 11 points to go along with five assists.
Sterling, Kenzie Gagner and Emmy Munson each hit a 3-pointer during a 2-minute stretch late in the fourth quarter that allowed the Owls to turn a one-point lead into an insurmountable advantage.
Saturday’s win ended a three-game losing streak and soothed a tired Owls team that is in the midst of a two-week seven-game ride.
“I thought going into the fourth quarter, we looked like a mentally and physically exhausted team,” Longmeier said. “That’s just the grind of this part of our schedule. The toughest thing is the mental challenge.”
That fatigue may have also manifested itself in a slow start and early shooting woes. The Owls opened with a 2-for-10 effort from the field in the first quarter while Madison built a 12-8 lead. When the Cubs’ 6-foot center, Mylee McQueary, was forced to the bench with foul trouble, Longmeier decided to go big with his lineup.
“Once (McQueary) got into foul trouble, it made sense,” he said. “Then when our guards (Sterling and Munson) got in foul trouble, there was no choice. It’s what we had to do. It was the right thing to do with the matchups.”
Marshall quickly supported Longmeier’s decision with a three-point play that gave Seymour a 13-12 lead.
Brown followed with five straight points, then Marshall assisted a Sterling 3-pointer. Brown added two more buckets, one of which was assisted by Marshall, and the Owls found themselves with an eight-point lead at halftime.
“We worked well off of each other today,” Brown said of her teamwork with Marshall. “We were getting each other the ball and finishing.”
Madison never quit, however. The Cubs opened the second half with an 8-0 run to tie the game at 27. Later, a 6-0 burst allowed them to take a 37-34 lead early in the fourth quarter.
Seymour looked for, and found, an answer inside. Brown hit a turnaround in the lane and then a free throw. Marshall followed with a layup (assisted by Brown) and a free throw that tied the game at 40.
Gagner then hit her 3. Munson drained a 3. And after a Sophie Skidmore steal, Sterling added her 3, and the Owls were on their way.
“We talked at halftime that we have to pull together and come out for each other,” Brown said. “And we did that in the second half.”
The road doesn’t get any easier for Seymour with a Tuesday trip to Columbus North (7-2) and a Thursday home date with Hoosier Hills Conference foe Floyd Central (5-4) on tap.
“It’s a hard stretch for us, bouncing back from two big games the past week, but it was a good win today,” Brown said. “Hopefully, we can keep it going next week.”
Seymour 57, Madison 47
Madison;12;7;16;12;—;47
Seymour;8;19;6;24;—;57
Madison (7-3): Juliana Davis 6 5-8 19, Hannah Dart 4 0-0 8, Bailey Owens 2 1-2 5, Mylee McQueary 2 1-1 5, Iyana Phelps 2 0-0 4, Addison Roark 0 4-4 4, Caity Dailey 1 0-0 2, Totals 17 11-15 47.
Seymour (6-5): Journee Brown 8 4-8 20, Claire Marshall 4 3-5 11, Kendall Sterling 3 3-4 11, Emmy Munson 2 0-0 6, Sophie Skidmore 2 2-4 6, Kenzie Gagner 1 0-0 3, Jaidyn Nichols 0 0-0 0, Abby Otte 0 0-0 0, Totals 20 12-21 57.
3-point goals: Madison 2 (Davis 2), Seymour 5 (Sterling 2, Munson 2, Gagner).
Rebounds: Madison 23 (Davis 5, Dailey 5), Seymour 41 (Sterling 12, Brown 11).
Turnovers: Madison 9, Seymour 20.
Fouls: Madison 15, Seymour 15.
Junior varsity
Seymour 20, Madison 10
Seymour (8-3): Claire Skaggs 8, Abby Otte 5, Kennedy Burnette 5, Kelsea Hunsley 1, Emmy Followell 1.