South Central’s first half struggles fuel 0-3 start

The South Central Cougars struggled to start on the right foot in the Vandalia Holiday Tournament, dropping its first three games to Flora, Pana and Greenville.
In game one Saturday afternoon, the Cougars faced the top-seeded Flora Wolves, who proved to be too much to handle, as they defeated South Central, 57-42.
“It’s been typical of all year. We started out slow, got behind. Then you have to make a big push to try and get back into the game,” South Central head coach Rick Simmons said. “It’s like I told them. ‘There are some teams you can do that against, but playing a big school with the history and success of a Flora, you better be ready the second you step on that floor.”
Like they have often done this season, the Cougars got off to a slow start on offense, scoring only four first-quarter points, allowing the Wolves to take a 13-4 lead into the second quarter.
The second did not fare much better for South Central, as they managed just six points. However, Flora managed only nine second-quarter points, extending its lead to 22-10 going into the third quarter.
South Central began to find an offensive rhythm in the third quarter, but it was too little too late. While the Wolves only outscored the Cougars by three points in the second half, it was more than enough for them to hang onto a 57-42 win.
“This would not rank very high on my list (of games). I just didn’t think we worked that hard. I’ve been preaching all week long, we have to get out to a good start and you have to play hard,” Simmons said. “We came out in the second half and picked it up, but at that point you're 12 points down, so it’s an uphill battle all the time. Then they extend it to 20, you cut it back to 13, but you have expended all that energy and not gained anything. From my standpoint, we just did not play hard enough. We did not play the type of game we needed to play.”

Flora 57, SC 42
FL 13 9 16 19 — 57
SC 4 6 13 19 — 42
SC: Brett Harmeier 7 6-10 23, Dre Hill 3 2-2 11, Jonathan Arnold 1 2-2 4, Trevor Markley 1 0-0 2, Brandon Snow 1 0-0 2. Totals 13 (2) 10-16 42. Three-pointers: Harmeier, Hill. Fouls 16.
Flora: Jefrey Gocey 3 0-0 9, Ian Leib 5 3-6 15, Logan Moses 2 0-0 4, Jeffrey Gaither 3 2-3 9, Trevin Smith 3 3-4 10. Three-pointers: Gocey 3, Leib 2, Smith. Fouls 11.

The Cougars didn't fare any better in the next two games.
In game two, the pace of Pana’s offense overwhelmed South Central, as the Panthers topped the Cougars in dominating fashion, 63-35. Pana came out on fire, scoring 26 first-quarter points behind eight from Wade McMillen, who finished the game with a team-high 19. The Cougars managed only 11 first-quarter points, taking a 15-point deficit into the second quarter.
The Panthers continued its offensive assault in the second, outscoring South Central 17-13 to take a 43-24 lead into the third quarter.
With a sizeable lead, the Panthers were able to coast in the second half, outscoring South Central 20-11 enroute to a 63-35 victory.

Pana 63, SC 35
PA 26 17 18 2 — 63
SC 11 13 6 5 — 35
SC: Brett Harmeier 3 0-0 7, Dre Hill 2 1-2 5, Jonathan Arnold 1 1-2 3, Trevor Markley 2 0-0 5, Brandon Snow 0 0-1 0, Trent Geiler 1 3-3 5, Ryan Matheny 1 1-2 3, Caleb Harpster 2 0-0 4. Totals 13 (3) 6-11 35. Three-pointers: Harmeier, Hill, Markley.
Pana: Wade McMillen 8 2-3 19, Rhett Zahradka 6 0-0 12, Adam Miller 4 1-1 10, Joe England 3 3-4 10, Michael Hrabak 2 0-1 4. Totals 27 (3) 6-13 63. Three-pointers: Miller, England, McMillen.

South Central continued its stretch of difficult matchups in game three, facing last year’s tournament champions, the Greenville Comets. Despite a solid start to the first quarter, the Cougars could not find any consistency as they fell to the Comets, 57-40.
Dre Hill put the Cougars up early, converting on a layup in transition to give them a 4-2 lead. That would be the last Cougar lead, as Comets' leading scorer, David Holden scored two late baskets to give Greenville an 11-5 lead going into the second quarter.
Greenville continued to pull away, as Ryan Hutchinson scored 10 second-quarter points to give the Comets a 28-13 lead going into the third.
South Central’s offense fared marginally better in the second half, but its inability to stop Greenville defensively proved too much to overcome. Holden notched 15 fourth-quarter points enroute to a 57-40 win for Greenville.

Greenville 57, SC 40
GV 11 17 10 19 — 57
SC 5 8 9 18 — 40
SC: Brett Harmeier 4 1-3 11, Dre Hill 1 3-4 5, Jonathan Arnold 2 0-0 4, Trevor Markley 4 3-6 13, Trent Geiler 2 0-0 5, Ryan Matheny 1 0-0 2. Totals 14 (5) 7-13 40. Three-pointers: Harmeier 2, Markley 2, Geiler.
Greenville: David Holden 9 4-5 24, Ryan Hutchinson 6 3-4 17, Brady Simpson 3 0-0 6, Dillon Halleman 2 0-2 4. Totals 22 (4) 9-16 57. Three-pointers: Hutchinson 2, Holden 2.