CROTHERSVILLE

The Crothersville boys basketball team struggled to attack the 2-3 zone of Southwestern (Hanover), and as a result found themselves in a hole early in the game.

While the Tigers  (5-9) did chip away at a 12-point halftime deficit, they couldn’t surmount a comeback in a 58-33 loss.

In the first quarter, the Rebels (7-5) built a 14-3 lead in the first seven minutes of play.

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Josh Thomas hit a pair of free throws and Noah Hoskins added a basket in the final 48 seconds, but the Tigers trailed 16-7 after one quarter.

The Rebels scored eight unanswered points to start the second quarter until Thomas answered with five straight of his own as the Tigers trailed 24-12 at the 1:43-mark.

Lane Wienhorst hit a 3-pointer before the intermission buzzer, as the Tigers trailed 27-15.

“We ran the same offense that we worked on all week to run against their 2-3 zone,” Tigers coach Greg Kilgore said. “Second half, we were a little more fluid and had better movement. In that first half, we didn’t shoot the ball well at all.”

Conner O’Sullivan drilled back-to-back treys to get the Tigers’ offense going in the third quarter to cut the Rebel’ lead to 29-21.

The Tigers limited the Rebels to just seven points in the quarter while adding 12 of their own, but still trailed 34-27 going into the fourth quarter.

The Rebels outscored the Tigers 13-3 in by 2:40 in the fourth quarter.

In the final 2:31 of the game, the Rebels went on an 11-0 run.

Players from both teams got chippy with one another throughout the fast-paced game.

“It was physical both ways,” Kilgore said. “I took the kids out a couple times to talk about their composure. I think the kids are on the verge of wanting to show some gamesmanship, and puff their chests out a little bit. They’re not sure how to draw that in yet when the referee says to slow that down.”

Thomas led the Tigers with 10 points and Tyler Kramer topped the Rebels with 16.

“We tried to speed it up and get some shots,” Kilgore said. “I feel like if these freshmen and sophomores keep shooting the ball like they are, in a couple years we’re going to be pretty darn good at being a fast-break, shooting team. The bad part is that we’re going to take some lumps in the meantime.”

Crothersville plays at Christian Academy of Indiana on Friday