Cain leads Patoka past South Central

FARINA — Joey Eddy had been waiting for a performance like this.
Eddy's Patoka High School boys basketball team put it all together in a 63-48 victory over South Central on Monday night.
"It's a big win for us because it's a rivalry win," Eddy said. "When you're at Patoka, it's a big win if you beat South Central."
This one was all Patoka, as the Warriors raced out to a big lead by the early stages of the second period.
Jered Cain poured in 36 points to lead the Patoka offense, scoring at will on drives to the hoop again and again.
"He was the Jered that we expect out of him," Eddy said. "I'm proud of him. He was really finishing at the basket, and he even hit a step-in three. Even when they key on him, he's strong enough to finish around the basket."
Defensively, the Warriors took advantage of 24 South Central turnovers.
Patoka turned many of those turnovers into easy hoops the other way.
"We want to play fast, and use our athleticism to our advantage," Eddy said. "We try to get into the passing lanes and get out and go."
For the host Cougars, the 24 turnovers proved too much to overcome.
"We had an unbelievable amount of turnovers," South Central Coach Rick Simmons said. "You're just asking for trouble when you continue to make those kinds of turnovers. And they were silly turnovers. A lot of them weren't forced. We did a lot of it to ourselves."
The South Central offense also struggled against Patoka's zone for most of the game.
"We had no rhythm offensively," Simmons said. "We didn't move the ball. We were hesitant. And it wasn't very pretty."
Patoka improved to 5-3 on the season with the win, while South Central fell to 2-2.

Game stats
Just a sophomore, Cain scored 36 points, making 15 field goals.
He made one three-pointer and was also able to get several hoops in transition.

Dylan Back scored 11 points, hitting three shots from behind the arc. Shane Cain and Garrett Belcher added seven points apiece for the Warriors, while Michael Organ rounded out the scoring with two points.
Evan Langley scored 16 points for the Cougars, while Brett Harmeier added 15 points. Dre Hill also reached double figures with 13 points.
Also scoring for South Central were Chase Riley and Noah Powless, as both chipped in two points apiece.

Game Recap
Turnovers killed South Central in the first quarter, and the Warriors took full advantage, converting many into easy layups.
Patoka went on a 9-0 run early in the game to take an 11-4 lead. The two teams traded points late in the period, and Patoka took a 15-8 lead into the second period.
The Warriors scored seven-straight points to take a 25-11 lead with 4:50 left in the first half, as Jered Cain, Belcher and Shane Cain scored.
South Central responded by scoring six straight, all in the paint by Langley or Hill.
But Jered Cain scored six points late in the first half to give Patoka a 31-20 halftime lead. Cain had 18 points before intermission.
The  Cougars made a push in the third period, but simply could not get enough defensive stops. After a three-point play by Langley, South Central had cut Patoka's lead down to 10 points at 37-27.
But Patoka responded with 10-straight points. Dylan Back drained three three-pointers in a matter of two minutes, Shane Cain made one free throw and the Warriors were suddenly up 20, 47-27, with 2:37 left in the third period.
"Dylan Back came up big for us," Eddy said. "He's done that the last few games for us. Those three-pointers really put some pressure on them and let us relax a little bit."
Jered Cain had two hoops late in the quarter, and Patoka was up big, 51-31, heading into the fourth period.
South Central's Harmeier did his best to get the Cougars back into the game. Harmeier scored eight points early in the fourth quarter, cutting Patoka's lead to 58-41.
But as he did all game, Jered Cain drove to the hole for a hoop, and then hit one free throw to keep the lead at a comfortable level.
South Central got the deficit down to 12 points in the final frame, but the Warriors scored three-straight and ran out the clock.
"Every time we made a move, we'd give them five or six points right back," Simmons said. "You can't do that. It had to start on the defensive end. Jered Cain is a load. You have to give credit to him. But we shouldn't be giving up that much penetration."
Patoka is at Christ Our Rock Lutheran on Friday night, while South Central will host Altamont on Friday.

Patoka 63, South Central 48
PA  15   16   20   12  — 63
SC   8   12    11   17  — 48
Patoka: S. Cain 3 1-5 7, Organ 0 2-4 2, Belcher 3 0-0 7, J. Cain 15 5-7 36, D. Back 4 0-0 11, T. Back 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 (5) 8-16 63. Three-pointers: D. Back 3, J. Cain, Belcher. Fouls 15.
South Central: Harmeier 4 4-6 15, Hill 5 2-2 13, Langley 6 4-6 16, Riley 1 0-0 2, Powless 1 0-0 2. Totals 13 (4) 10-14 48. Three-pointers: Harmeier 3, Hill. Fouls 15. Fouled out: None.
 

Jered Cain makes a layup against South Central. Cain scored 36 points.