South finally found themselves on the right side of a one
basket game. South has had tough luck
when it comes to 1 and 2 point games – losing to two quality teams Stivers and
Tri-Village by slim margins. But thanks to a put back at the buzzer, South
survived against Valley View for a 50-48 victory. South also had a conference
victory over Newton, and so were able to capture two wins on the road after
losing at the last second to Tri-Village at home the week before. So it was good to see that team did not deflate
after that loss.
South was able to handle the quick guard play of the Indians
and generated plenty of offense in a 68-53 victory over the Indians. The
referee’s almost wore out their whistles though as Newton shot 27 free throws for
the night. The Panthers scored 3 players in double figures – Jacob Bassler and Anthony Augspurger with 13, and Wes Cole
17. Also scoring were: Winston Crosier
6, Jake Osborn 9, JJ Utz 6, Jason Utz 2, Josh Cottingim 2.
“Newton does not have a great record, but in some respects
they were the worst matchup for us,” stated coach Augspurger afterwards. “They are short but quick, with good ball
handlers. And the guards shoot well from the perimeter. We just didn’t match up with them as well
when they spread the ball out like that. It was a win, and we controlled it pretty much
all the way, but it was frustrating that we didn’t play as well. And you have to give credit to Newton, they
played to their strengths.”
Next up for the Panthers was a furious game with several
lead changes at Valley View. The
Spartans have size in the post and decent shooting from outside and despite
their record Valley View battled South all night. South lead early, but the
Spartans had a decent second quarter and got the lead by halftime. South lead in the third quarter as their
defense stepped up a notch and got some stops.
But the Spartans closed and tied in the decisive last
minutes of the game. Anthony Augspurger hit a trey to put South up, but the
Spartans responded from behind the arc on their next possession to tie the game
right back up. As the clock wound down,
South set up a play for Wes Cole, who shot but missed. The Panthers went savagely to the boards for
the rebound and it was point guard JJ Utz who tapped the ball in just before
the buzzer to cement the Panther victory.
“I don’t think we played with as much of a defensive edge as
what we’ve done,” commented coach Augspurger, “and that happens sometimes in
the middle of the season. We had a big
emotional game last week against Tri-Village. And there might be a bit of a let down from
that, I don’t think we were as steadfast as what we have been. Valley View has been a Jekyll and Hyde team
this year. They have size and decent
shooters – but they are streaky.”
He continued, “I thought the team did a good job on
weathering the storm. We just couldn’t
score, shots wouldn’t go down. But we
got some good stops in the last quarter.
As a team we just have to remember that defense is our strength and to
always play with that intensity. Jacob
Bassler and Wes Cole did a good job offensively for us. And JJ Utz did a good job of recognizing the
time left in the game, and pretty much batting the ball back to the hoop.”
Jacob Bassler’s weekend: “He is logically our third scorer.
He takes more shots and just sometimes needs to be more aggressive. But I thought
that he did that this weekend. He was
able to take the ball to the basket at times.
He hit the offensive boards to get rebounds and score. If he continues to play this way it will be a
great benefit to the team.”
Mississinewa Valley (10-3): “They have a 7 game winning
streak. They have done a really job overall. They struggled against 3 really
good state ranked teams. They got beat
soundly in those games, but they have beat everyone else. So they are coming in here with some
confidence. They play different zone
defenses and we will have to be ready to go after them.”
Scoring for TVS: Cole 20, Jason Utz 2, Jacob Bassler 10,
Anthony Augspurger 10, Jake Osborn 6, JJ Utz 4.
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