South Hits High Gear in Second Half

Twin Valley South sparred with National Trail for about 2 and half quarters. Neither team able to gain much of an edge, but after a time out – and good talking too by coach Augspurger, the team found high gear in the 3^rd quarter and raced ahead for a decisive win. Senior Jacob Bassler sparked the rally with back to back 3's and South never looked back as they outscored Trail 32-6 the rest of the way for a 53-27 victory.

The teams played evenly in the first half and South had a slim 1 point lead at the break – 17-16. South was getting shots, but they just were not dropping. The score was tied at 21-all midway through the 3^rd quarter when South made their move. South scored 3 - 3 point shots in a row to break the game open. That seemed to spark the team defensively as well as offensively. They smothered any attempt at a comeback by Trail.

Coach Augpurger later stated that the teams defensive intensity was sparked at that time too. That fed into a rally as South's defense got turnovers and translated those into points on the offensive end of the court. Trail could not figure out South and were frustrated offensively.

Coach Augspurger was asked about Jacob Bassler, “He has gotten off to a good start this season. He has been the scorer that we thought that he would be, his 3 point shots in the 3^rd quarter are what really sparked the rally. We just took off from there.”

This next week South will have to be giant slayers. Both of the teams that they play will have height. While South doesn't have much height at all. But coach Augspurger stated that the team prepared for the season by scrimmaging tall teams in preparation for weeks like this where they play teams with size.

“Valley View has 2 kids who are around 6' 4” or so and they are good. One plays mainly in the post, while the other can shoot from outside,” stated coach Augspurger, “and Miami East, well they are the tallest team in the league. They are always tall, but this year they even more size and experience. Both they and Tri-Village are preseason favorites to be at the top of the conference. So if we want to have a shot at a league championship, that game is going to be a must win for us.”

South will host Valley View on Tuesday and then Miami East on Friday.

Scoring for South: Ryan Bassler 3, Cottingim 9, Myers 4, Jacob Bassler 15, Crosier 6, Ehler 4, Utz 3, Lovely 9.