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Posey County Sports

Vikings lose composure in third quarter, fall to Southridge

By Dave Pearce
It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.
North Posey High School boys’ basketball coach got a small taste of what Charles Dickens was talking about in his 1859 novel called “A Tale of Two Cities.”
The best of times for the homestanding North Posey Vikings came in the first half when Wadsworth’s troops had everything going their way, jumping out to an early large 17-8 lead over Southridge and then having to hold on for a narrow two-point half-time lead.
But the worst of times came in the third quarter as the Vikings rebuilt their early lead to 33-25 on another Swope three-pointer. Nick Neidig had missed two free throws on the previous tip upcourt that could have put the Vikings up by 10. But this is where it got ugly.
Following the 3-pointer, Swope came up with a steal but the Vikings were unable to convert and the Raiders got inside and converted an old-fashioned 3-point play to pull to within 33-28.
Apparently the Raiders learned something going inside as their inside assault continued as they again went inside to pull to within 33-30.
On the next trip inside against the Vikings, the Raiders came away with a foul, a technical foul, two more free throws and the ball. The run ignited Southridge’s outside shooters who had not been much of a factor up until that point.
After pulling to within 33-32 at the line, the Raiders burned the Viking zone for back-to-back 3-point baskets to move out to a 38-33 lead before Wadsworth could get a time out.
“Three-point shots are game-changers and we had some 3-point shots early that created some momentum for us,” Wadsworth said of the game’s turning point. “We had an opportunity to increase our lead in the first half and we missed four or five lay-up opportunities that we should have converted. Then, in that stretch there, we lost our composure. Last week we benefitted from a team losing their composure. In this game, we lost our composure and got rattled just enough to come up short tonight.”
For the first few minutes of the game, it appeared that neither team was going to miss from the field as the Raiders scored first before Jourdan Cox nailed a 3-pointer from the corner.
Southridge answered back only to have Wes Harness find Cox again for two more and the Vikings took a lead they would not relinquish until mid-way through the third quarter. After a Southridge miss, Kyle Swope got two of his game-high 22 points to expand the lead to 7-4 before the Raiders could answer.
Southridge’s 6-foot-6 sophomore Cameron O’Brien played beyond his years as he stuck back an offensive rebound to pull his team to within 7-6 before Harness scored off the break and on the next possession, found Swope wide open for a 3-pointer as the Vikings opened up a 12-6 lead.
When Swope struck again from the corner after a North Posey stop, it appeared the Vikings might run the Raiders out of the building. And according to Wadsworth, perhaps that is what should have happened as the Vikings had several chances to put the dagger in the Raiders and simply didn’t get it done, especially early.
“I felt like we had good flow early in the game and that we had good contributions from different individuals but Kyle had an exceptional game,” Wadsworth said of Swope. “He had been shooting the ball well in practice and I wasn’t surprised to see it carry over.”
Following the 20-10 debacle known as the third quarter, the Vikings were facing an uphill battle as the Raiders had gained confidence and momentum. They maintained a double-digit lead until seniors Jourdan Cox and Kyle Swope tried to put the team on their shoulders and carry them back.
Trailing 54-41, Swope nailed a 3-pointer but the Raiders answered. Cox then hit from long range to pull back to within 10. Cox came up with a steal and threw the ball ahead to Harness who converted to pull the Vikings back to within 57-49. A defensive stop and a move to the basket landed Cox at the line again, where his two free throws pulled the Vikes to within 57-51 with 3:18 showing.
After Cox picked up his fourth foul and following a pair of missed free throws by the Raiders, Cox pulled the Vikings back to within five but they would get no closer, falling 68-62.
“We gave ourselves a fighting chance to come back but we couldn’t do it,” Wadsworth said. “The game had already been decided.”
The final two minutes did offer some excitement as the Raiders missed the front end of a pair of double bonus situations and Swope hit another 3-pointer to pull back to within 64-59 with 19.5 seconds remaining and the Vikings took a time out.
But in the final 19.5 seconds, the Raiders were 4-for-4 from the line to seal the victory.
“I felt like we had a good defensive gameplan but when we got behind, we had to amp up the pressure and that really changed the tempo of the game that allowed them to get a lot of points,” the defensive-minded Wadsworth said. “We had to see if we could get two or three shut-outs in a row but we couldn’t do it.”
The Vikings will take an 8-8 record into a rare Thursday evening game at Evansville Memorial. They will face Perry Central in a Saturday daytime game at 1 p.m., also on the road.


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