Seymour looked like it was on its way to coasting to a Hoosier Hills Conference boys basketball victory Saturday night at Columbus East.
The Olympians came charging back.
East was down 22-2 in the second quarter and inched its way back in the game with less than a minute left, but the Owls did just enough by hitting their free throws down the stretch for a 58-51 win.
“We didn’t come with energy at the start of the game,” East coach Brent Chitty said. “The effort wasn’t there. We didn’t have high hands, we didn’t have active hands. You have to give (Seymour) credit. They hit shots, but we have to do a better job all four quarters.”
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The Olympians (3-10, 0-2) came back to cut the lead to 52-49 with 41.2 seconds remaining. A turnover by the Owls turned into a Daniel Murphy basket underneath to make it 52-51 with about 30 seconds left.
Murphy was unable to connect on two free throws, and a Jayden Brown basket underneath in transition sealed the win for Seymour.
“First of all, I think we’ve been playing really hard. I thought tonight, we did not come out with the same energy and effort as we did (against Bloomington South Friday) night,” Chitty said. “Our kids are working hard, playing hard and got back into it, but then we missed too many crucial free throws.”
The Owls (5-7, 2-2) established good patience to find the right shot to start the game, and that led to them getting off to a 9-0 start that forced an early East timeout. It didn’t help much for the Olympians when they couldn’t buy a basket, and Seymour took advantage to jump out to a 17-2 lead after one.
Seymour extended the lead to 22-2 following a Casey Regruth 3-pointer. East got a quick spurt with two Tyler Boyer free throws and a triple from Jacob Pierce to force Seymour to call timeout, but the Owls still possessed a 22-7 lead. The Olympians ended the first half on an 8-2 run, but Seymour still led 24-15.
The Owls held on to a 33-21 lead midway through the third quarter, but then East finished out the quarter on a 6-0 run that was capped off with a 3-pointer from Crase Bergman at the buzzer to cut the deficit to 33-27 heading into the fourth.
The Olympians came within 35-31 early in the fourth, but then Eric McCoy drained a 3-pointer to widen the margin for Seymour, setting up the final ending sequence.
Boyer finished with a game-high 21 points ,and Bergman added 12 to lead East. Eric McCoy had a team-high 16 points and Regruth added 13 for the Owls.
