HOPE — Right from the opening tip, South Decatur took control of Friday night’s Mid-Hoosier Conference boys basketball game at Hauser.
The Class 2A No. 4 Cougars poured on a huge scoring run in the first quarter to send them on their way to a 91-58 victory.
South Decatur forced countless turnovers that led to several points at the other end.
“I get it from a lot through the week from of people saying, ‘Don’t you guys play defense?’ because we score so much and getting up and down the floor, and a lot of times, we give up points,” South Decatur coach Kendall Wildey said. “Our philosophy is that we are going to pressure you so much and try to turn you over that we are going to get more possessions that you are. We believe we can hit enough percentage shots to put points on the board and turnovers are a big key to us and the way we play.”
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The duo of Lane Lauderbaugh and Hunter Johnson combined to score 61 points, with Lauderbuagh pouring in a game-high 31 and Johnson adding 30.
The win leaves the Cougars (15-1, 4-0) still unbeaten in the MHC after a disappointing loss at Greensburg on Jan. 25.
“It was huge. it definitely helped out our confidence a lot,” Lauderbaugh said. “It’s a big game for us after not playing to our expectations (at Greensburg). It’s never easy to get a road win in the conference. We came out ready to play tonight, and hopefully we can get it done (tonight) against Triton Central.”
The only times the Jets (7-9, 2-3) led were when they scored the first basket of the game and the third basket to lead 4-2. South Decatur went on a 4-2 run to tie it at 6-6, then went on an offensive tear to finish the first quarter on a 22-4 run to lead 28-10.
The Cougars extended the lead to 35-12 early in the second quarter following a 7-2 run. Hauser trailed 61-34 at the half.
South Decatur made it 71-36 early in the third quarter following a dunk from Lauderbaugh.
Things went from bad to worse for the Jets when Jackson Paradise took a hard fall on his head in the second half. He continued to play, but eventually was subbed out of the game and is currently in concussion protocol and will miss tonight’s game at Batesville.
“You have to live and learn. We were facing some adversity after tonight. We think Jackson Paradise might be diagnosed with a concussion, so he likely won’t play (tonight), and obviously safety and health is our main concern,” Hauser coach Joe Sibbitt said. “We just have to be ready to go and regroup. That is the challenge ahead of us, to dust ourselves off and get back up and ready to go.”
Bryce Bates led Hauser with 19 points. Paradise had 14, and Landon Asher added 11.
