NEW MARKET — A defensive adjustment sparked the Lebanon boys basketball team on Friday night at Southmont.
After trailing the Mounties 12-11 at the end of a quarter, the Tigers switched to a 2-3 zone and held the Mounties to just 13 points combined in the next two quarters on their way to a 65-44 win.
“I thought our defense was really good in the second quarter, and that was the difference,” Lebanon head coach Albert Hendrix said. “We were able to get some steals and get in transition to score some baskets. John Morgan and Carson (Burtron) did a good job of extending. When we went to the 2-3 zone, that hurt them too, but I think our length caused them some trouble.”
Southmont head coach Jake Turner said that it wasn’t just one thing that caused his team problems on Friday night.
“We really struggled against the zone and just didn’t execute what we wanted to do,” Turner said. “We had way too many turnovers, some Lebanon forced and a lot was just us shooting ourselves in the foot. We gave up double-digit offensive rebounds, didn’t close out on their shooters, missed way too many free throws and our shot selection wasn’t good. We didn’t do anything that we needed to in order to win the game.”
Lebanon led 11-6 in the first quarter after back-to-back 3s by Kobe Ottinger, but the Mounties scored the last six points of the first quarter to lead 12-11.
But Lebanon used an 8-0 run to start the second quarter to take the lead for good, and after Southmont go within five midway through the quarter, the Tigers closed the half on a 10-1 run, capped by a one-handed dunk by Morgan to go up 14 at the half.
“Our kids just all stepped up tonight,” Hendrix said. “Cauy Nance came in and gave us some good minutes, as did John Morgan. Hunter Crew and Kobe did a good job down low. It was just a good team win for us.”
Southmont got no closer than 12 in the second half as the Tigers continued to pull away.
Turner said when Lebanon has a lead, they are a difficult team to come back on.
“They are very physical and do a great job of helping on defense,” Turner said. “No. 1, it is tough to score against them, they really make you work for everything. Second, they have Burtron who is a three year starter, he’s experienced and one of the best players in the conference, and it’s tough to speed him up. They run their stuff, execute it well and wait for you to breakdown.”
Austin Bowman and Logan Oppy had 15 points apiece for Southmont, who were without starter Carson Chadd for the second-straight game due to an ankle injury.
The Mounties fell to 4-11 on the year, and face Tri-West Thursday.
“We have to clean up some of our mental mistakes,” Turner said. “Lebanon is a really good defensive team, they help and swipe drives to get deflections, but some of our turnovers were just throwing it a guy’s legs or out of bounds. We really have to clean some of that stuff up. We have to do a better job rebounding, and at the free-throw line, because we are an inside-out team and we want to get to the line. Right now we are getting to the line, but missing the free throws and that just comes back to bite you.”
