Tigers move to 3-1 in SAC

By Dennis Dunn First Posted: February 04, 2012 - 12:50 am Last Updated: February 04, 2012 - 1:43 am

CROTHERSVILLE — The Crothersville boys basketball team’s second meeting against Henryville netted the same result as the first meeting: A Tiger win.

The Tigers beat the Hornets 55-48 in the championship game of the McKee Munk Invitational in December, and on Friday night, in the Night of Colors cancer awareness game, Crothersville claimed a 59-53 Southern Athletic Conference win.

The Tigers and Hornets were tied at 8 in the first quarter, but an 8-0 run by Crothersville to close the first quarter gave the Tigers the lead they would never lose.

This time around, the Tigers had a different lineup against the Hornets, but it still didn’t affect the outcome of this game.

“We got a little different lineup with Scotty (Schuerman) back, but for the most part, they had a couple of good players that are capable of scoring a lot of points,” Tigers coach Clint Waskom said.

“Our focus was the same, but we did change our defense this time around, and the kids were able to make nice adjustments.

“We were really focused in practice this week, and for the most part defensively, we played an awfully good basketball game,” he added.

Henryville’s biggest lead of the game was 3-0, but Mathew Lucas had a driving basket and Joe Sawyer drained a 3-pointer at the 5:35 mark for a 5-3 Crothersville lead. The Hornets’ Andrew Jones tied it at 5, but Sawyer hit another 3-pointer at 4:27 for an 8-5 lead.

At the 3:15 mark, the Hornets’ Tyler Collins hit a 3-pointer for an 8-8 score, but Ryan Gabbard had a layup, Jarrod Royalty scored five straight points and Gabbard made a free throw for a 16-8 first-quarter lead.

Sawyer hit his third 3-pointer of the first half at the start of the second quarter to give the Tigers a 19-8 lead, but the Hornets used a 6-0 run to cut the lead to 19-14. The Tigers then turned the tide and scored six in a row for a 25-14 lead.

Crothersville outscored Henryville 15-13 in the second quarter and held a 31-21 lead at halftime. The Tigers shot 12 of 27 from the floor in the first half and finished the game 20 of 46, while the Hornets were 7 of 22 in the first half and finished the game 18 of 52.

“It’s nice to come out and hit some shots,” Waskom said. “I felt like all year long, we are a good shooting basketball team, but the past couple of games, from the perimeter, the lid has been on the rim. It was also nice to see our guards put the ball in the hole and step up and make some shots in the first half.”

Early in the third quarter, neither team could find the basket. The Hornets scored at the 5:17 mark to make it 31-23. The Tigers outscored the Hornets 11-9 in the quarter and led 42-30 heading into the fourth quarter.

Both teams found the basket in the fourth quarter, combining for 40 points. The Hornets outscored the Tigers 23-17.

Sawyer led the Tigers (12-4) with 20 points, including 17 in the first half. Gabbard added 18 points and 14 rebounds for a double-double.

The win improved the Tigers to 3-1 in the SAC.

“Last weekend in the Trinity game, it was a total letdown from an effort standpoint,” Waskom said. “I challenged the kids in practice this week, and we probably had the hardest week in practice of the year, but I give credit to the kids as they fought hard all week and got some intensity back.

“They came in tonight like they practiced all week, and they were able to come out tonight,” he added. “It was nice to see that intensity carry over and pick up a nice conference win.”

Tonight, the Tigers will travel to Medora.

Box score

At Crothersville

Varsity

Henryville 8 13 9 23—53

Crothersville 16 15 11 17—59

Crothersville (12-4): Scott Schuerman 2-10 2-2 6, Joe Sawyer 7-15 3-4 20, Ryan Gabbard 6-11 6-10 18, Mathew Lucas 3-6 1-2 7, Jarrod Royalty 2-3 3-4 8, Aaron Wilp 0-1 0-0 0, Gene Hodge 0-0 0-0 0, Bradley Gabbard 0-0 0-0 0, totals 20-46 15-22 59

Henryville (9-8): Evan Embry 2-6 0-0 6, Brad Everage 1-6 0-0 3, Dakota Harrell 2-3 1-3 5, Devin Richey 3-9 0-0 8, Andrew Jones 7-16 4-6 19, Cody Reister 1-1 0-0 2, Tyler Collins 2-11 5-7 10, totals 18-52 10-16 53

3-point goals: Crothersville (Sawyer 3, Royalty), Henryville (Embry 2, Richey 2, Everage, Collins, Jones)

Rebounds: Crothersville 34 (R. Gabbard 14, Schuerman 6, Sawyer 6), Henryville 29 (Harrell 6, Collins 6, Jones 6)

Turnovers: Crothersville 11, Henryville 13

Fouls: Crothersville 11, Henryville 17

Junior varsity

Henryville 4 4 13 4—25

Crothersville 7 7 7 8—29

Crothersville (11-5): Jacob Davidson 8, Caleb Minton 6, Jimmy Needler 4, Grayson Barnes 3, Tyler Banks 3, Jordan Schoenfelder 2, Luke Collins 2, Dakota Mount 1