Seymour made 14 of 18 free throws in the fourth quarter and outscored Jennings County 26-16 to register a 52-47 win in the opening round of the Seymour Class 4A Sectional on Tuesday night.

Tiller Cummings had a 3-point basket and shot 6-for-6 from the line, Eddie Louden had a basket and made four free throws, Ty McCory made all four of his free throws, and Zach Moore had a 3-pointer and a free throw for the Owls scoring in the fourth quarter.

“Free throws were kind of bug-aboo in the first half,” Seymour coach Tyler Phillips said. “We came back and hit them when they counted. We started doing in the fourth quarter what we were supposed to do in the first three quarters. We’re supposed to attack the rim and attack the block, and we really didn’t do a very good job of that. In the fourth quarter it clicked and that we needed to do to be successful. We started taking them off the dribble and attacked the rim and getting the people to block like we’re supposed to do. That resulted in the outcome.”

Seymour (12-11) hit 26 of 30 free throws and Jennings County sank 6 of 9 for the game.

[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]

Click here to purchase photos from this gallery

Both teams started out cold in the first quarter with the Owls shooting 3-for-10, and the Panthers 2-for 12, resulting in a 6-6 tie at the end of the period.

Gage Walters had a 3-pointer for the Panthers while three different players had a basket for the Owls.

After Louden scored for the Owls at the beginning of the second period, Landin Hacker got hot for the Panthers by hitting a jump shot, followed by a 3-pointer to put his team on top 13-8.

Hacker had another 3-pointer, and 10 points in the period to help his team to an 18-13 led at the half.

Alan Perry added a basket for the Owls in the second period as they shot 2-for-6 and the Panthers shot 3-for-6.

“We weren’t locked in,” Phillips said.

Travis Wilson’s layup gave the Panthers a 23-17 lead with 5:22 remaining in the third quarter.

The Owls then used 3-point plays by Perry and Louden to tie the game at 23-23 with 4:30 remaining.

The Panthers sparked by a pair of baskets Calin Kinney went back on top 31-25 and lead 31-26 going into the fourth quarter.

Louden scored five points for the Owls in the third quarter, while Walters, Wilson, and Kinney had two baskets each for Jennings County.

The Panthers increased their lead to 35-26 one minute into the fourth quarter before Cummings made a 3-pointer, followed by four free throws, and a 3-pointer by Moore at 5:15 to give the Owls a 36-35 lead.

Cummings topped the Owls with 17 points and Louden scored 16. Wilson was high for the Panthers (5-18) with 15 points

“Second year in a row we are playing in a semi-final,” Phillips said. “The pressure is on those teams. Let’s see what we can do.”

Seymour will play New Albany in the second game Friday night. The first game Friday will match Floyd Central and Jeffersonville after the Highlanders defeated Bedford North Lawrence 76-35 in the first game Tuesday night.