NEW MARKET — Southmont had opportunities, but in the end, its comeback bid fell short in a 42-41 loss to Seeger on Friday night in boys’ basketball action.
Senior Joseph Waling nailed a 2-point shot to start the fourth quarter, giving the Patriots (8-2) a 40-25 lead, and all hope seemed lost for the Mounties (2-12). Southmont’s sharpshooter Justin Howard wasn’t having it though. The senior rattled off eight straight points to cut the lead to 41-33 with 5:46 left, and the Mounties 1-3-1 trap defense flustered the Patriots, holding them to just two free throw makes in the last 7:25 of play. Drew Glancy hit a layup to make it a six-point deficit, and after Howard knocked down two shots from the charity stripe, Austin Bowman made it 42-39 at the 2:29 mark, and Cole Roach closed it to 42-41 with 1:29 left. Southmont had multiple opportunities to take the lead in the final 90 seconds, including three or four shots on its final possession, but came up empty-handed. “I don’t think we shot it very well, but I was proud of our effort and the way we competed there to make it a game at the end,” Mounties coach Jake Turner said. “And had a chance or a couple chances there at the end, but it didn’t fall. Unfortunate, but proud of the effort to get to that point.” Waling proved to be too much in the early going, leading Seeger with 19 points, including 11 in the first half. Howard led scorers with 21 to pace the Mounties. With the score tied at 12-12 early in the second quarter, the Patriots used a 12-3 run to take a 24-15 halftime lead. The deficit for the Mounties stayed around nine for the duration of the third quarter, before six points from Waling fueled an 8-4 Patriots run to end the period. Seeger shot just 28-percent for the game (12-of-43), and Turner felt like the defensive effort wasn’t the issue, but more so the continued offensive struggles for the Mounties. “We definitely played well enough defensively to win the game,” he said. “I thought we really battled in the post. We had opportunities, but I think we had 14 turnovers, and they just seem to come in bunches with us. We struggle to score as it is, and then we are turning it over with careless turnovers. We just really need to eliminate some of those turnovers so we have more opportunities to score.” Southmont had 11 turnovers in the first half alone, and connected on 13-of-40 shots for the game. Seeger outrebounded Southmont 31-25. Roach chipped in seven for the Mounties, while Khal Stephen added 10 for the Patriots. Southmont is back in action tonight at home against Riverton Parke at 7:30 p.m., while Seeger hosts Frontier at 7:30 p.m. Seeger 10 14 14 4 — 42 Southmont 6 9 10 16 — 41 Seeger (8-2): Pacen Wolf 0 0-1 0, Joseph Waling 5 8-8 19, Khal Stephen 3 4-6 10, Greyson Green 1 0-0 2, Khayne Stephen 0 2-4 2, Cameron Swank 1 0-0 2, Marcus Johnson 3 0-0 7; Totals 12-43 14-20 42 Southmont (2-12): Drew Glancy 2 1-2 5, Cole Roach 3 0-0 7, Ryan Stanley 1 0-0 2, Austin Bowman 2 0-0 4, Justin Howard 5 10-14 21, Luke Gregg 1 0-0 2; Totals 14-40 11-16 41 3-point shooting: Seeger 2-12 (Waling, Johnson), Southmont 2-15 (Roach, Howard) Rebounding: Seeger 31, Southmont 25 Turnovers: Seeger 10, Southmont 18