MEDORA — It was another installment of a Jackson County rivalry on Saturday night with iCrothersville heading to Medora to face the Hornets in boys basketball.
After a hard-fought battle, Medora seized the upper hand and never let it go, defeating the Tigers 59-37.
Hornets head coach Mark Morin spoke about the winning effort against Crothersville.
“It was our most consistent and complete game from start to finish of the year,” Morin said. “I also thought it was our best performance defensively of the season.”
Medora took an early five-point lead after the first quarter, leading 16-11. The Hornets built onto that lead in the second as they outscored Crothersville 17-12 to take a 33-23 lead at intermission.
The second half proved to be even worse for the Tigers, who were held to 14 points.
Medora took a 49-36 lead into the fourth and final quarter, ending with their sixth win of the season in a 59-37 victory over Crothersville. The Hornets limited the Tigers to just one point in the fourth quarter.
Crothersville head coach Bryant Layman spoke on the outcome with Medora.
“I felt Medora wanted this game more than our guys. I felt they played a great game and had a good game plan,” Layman said. “They hustled to every loose ball and every rebound. I felt we came out sloppy and struggled to run our offense and settled for some bad shots.”
Hudson Johnson led the Hornets with 15 points, while Damian Salas was second for Medora with 11. It was an all-out effort from the team with Kade Wright and Eli Lane both adding nine. Jaxon Nugen scored eight, while Dawson Cornett has continued to be effective for Medora, scoring seven.
The team shot 9-of-10 from the free throw line.
Morin is still expecting bigger things from the 6-9 Hornets, who have won three of their last five games.
“I think our best basketball is yet to come,” Morin said. “I really like the balance that we have on this team.”
Tymir Cromwell led the Tigers with nine points. Lucas Hilton led Crothersville in rebounds with nine to go along with eight points. Beau Napier and Dirk Crater both scored six points in the contest. Napier also secured seven rebounds for the Tigers, while also leading the team in assists with four.
Crothersville now sits at 5-9 on the season and will travel to face another Jackson County opponent in Trinity Lutheran on Friday at 7:30 p.m.
Layman spoke about the upcoming matchup with the Cougars
“Trinity is a good, young team that is playing good basketball right now,” he said. “Our team needs a better week of practice and a hint of more focus and be more patient on the offensive side the ball, and we have got to get better defensively.”
Medora will now have some days off before their next game when they host New Washington on Feb. 1 at 7:30 p.m.
Morin spoke about the break for the Hornets.
“We just need to work on getting better at what we want to do,” Morin said. “We try to get after you defensively, block out and rebound before pushing it up the floor on the offensive side. We need to do it without turning the ball over, and if we don’t have anything available, then we can run our sets.”
Medora 59, Crothersville 37
Crothersville (5-9);11;12;13;1;—;37
Medora (6-9);16;17;16;10;—;59
Medora (6-9): Hudson Johnson 5 5-6 15, Damian Salas 5 0-0 11, Kade Wright 3 3-3 9, Eli Lane 4 1-1 9, Jaxon Nugen 3 0-0 8, Dawson Cornett 3 0-0 7, Waylon Burrell 0 0-0 0, Kacie Inscoe 0 0-0 0, Dalton Kessner 0 0-0 0. Totals: 23 9-10 59
Crothersville (5-9): Tymir Cromwell 2 5-9 9, Lucas Hilton 4 0-2 8, Beau Napier 2 0-0 6, Dirk Crater 2 0-0 6, Logen O’Sullivan 2 0-0 5, Adam Turner 1 0-0 3, Elijah Plasse 0 0-2 0, Corey Reynolds 0 0-0 0, Kaleb Moeller 0 0-0 0. Totals: 13 5-13 37
3-point goals: Crothersville 6 (Crater2, Napier 2, Turner, O’Sullivan), Medora 4 (Nugen 2, Salas, Cornett)
Fouls: Medora 19, Crothersville 14