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THE POSEY COUNTY NEWS
We are Posey County's Definitive Source for News in the Mount Vernon, New Harmony, Poseyville, Saint Philip, Saint Wendel and Wadesville areas. Period.
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.
