South Central made some program history on Thursday.
No. 5 South Central knocked off No. 4 Potter County 64-54 in the first round of the State B boys' basketball tournament at Wachs Arena. It is South Central's first ever trip to a state boys' tournament basketball tournament as a co-op. South Central is made up of the towns Burke, Fairfax and Bonesteel.
They are real happy, South Central coach Clayton Steele said about his team getting the opening round win. They came out and I don't think they were in awe over (Potter County). They just tried to execute their offense and play good ball.
Sam Hazen powered the Cougars with a game-high 19 points, while Tyler Frank added 18 points and nine boards. Dakota Votaw chipped in with 12 points for South Central, which pulled away in the fourth quarter to hand the Battlers their first loss of the season.
I thought we were ready, Potter County coach Bryce Hall said, but we came out a little flat defensively. We got beat on some rotations on our press and gave up some easy buckets.
Potter County's Kole Hawkinson came off the bench and scored a team-high 12 points, on all three-pointers. Chayce Hall and Tanner Heuer added 11 points apiece, while Tate Nafziger tossed in 10 points.
The game was a back and forth affair through the first 30 minutes of the contest. The Cougars held a slim 43-42 lead with five minutes and 31 seconds left. South Central then took complete control with an 8-0 run and led 51-42 with four minutes left. The Battlers got as close as five points (56-51) with 1 minutes left. However, the Cougars closed by making 8 of 10 free throws down the stretch to earn the victory.
We just kept fighting, Hazen said. We have been in those type of games all year.
Hazen set the tone for South Central early on. The 6-foot-5 junior scored the Cougars' first six points of the game and had 12 points at halftime.
They just found me, Hazen said. I was just wide open every time under the basket. They just got me the ball.
Hazen helped the Cougars stake an early 6-2 lead, but Potter County battled back and led 14-11 after the first quarter. The Battlers took a 24-22 lead into halftime. The first half alone featured five lead changes.
We jumped out to a little lead and they come back and went ahead of us, Steele said, but our kids kept their cool. They realized that if they took care of the ball we had a chance.
The Cougars retook the lead early in the second half at 27-24. The game was tied two more times in the third quarter before the Cougars went ahead 38-34 entering the fourth quarter.
They shot the ball well from the perimeter, coach Hall said, nothing we could do about that. We tried but they just knocked them down. They responded well. They are a good scrappy team.
South Central (22-2) will now play No. 1 seed and defending state champs White River at 6 p.m. tonight in the semifinals of the State B tournament. Potter County (22-1) will play No. 8 seed Langford Area at noon today in the consolation semifinals.
There is nothing to hang their head about, coach Hall said, (today) we have to come out and we do what we do, lace them up and go after it again.
SOUTH CENTRAL: Garrett Bruns 0-1 1-2 1, Josh Tuttle 4-7 0-0 8, Dakota Votaw 3-8 5-6 12, Tyler Frank 5-7 7-8 18, Sam Hazen 7-10 5-6 19, Zach Sebern 2-3 0-0 6. Totals 21-36 18-22 64.
POTTER COUNTY: Tanner Heuer 4-7 2-2 11, Tate Nafziger 3-8 4-6 10, Eric Worth 0-2 0-0 0, Mitch Hinckley 3-7 0-0 6, Chayce Hall 4-15 3-4 11, Chase Sievers 0-0 0-0 0, Ashur Fleming 0-0 0-0 0, Kole Hawkinson 3-4 3-4 12, David Vander Vorst 2-3 0-0 4, Ryan Sundberg 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-46 12-18 54.
South Central (22-2)
11 22 38 64
Potter County (22-1)
14 24 34 54
3-point field goals - South Central 4-6 (Votaw 1-2, Frank 1-1, Sebern 2-3); Potter County 4-8 (Heuer 1-2, Worth 0-1, Hall 0-1, Hawkinson 3-4). Total fouls - South Central 13; Potter County 20. Fouled out - South Central, None; Potter County, Nafziger. Rebounds - South Central 22 (Frank 9); Potter County 24 (Hinckley 6). Assists - South Central 15 (Tuttle 4, Votaw 4); Potter County 7 (Heuer 2, Nafziger 2). Blocks - South Central 3 (Hazen 2); Potter County 3 (Nafziger 1, Worth 1, Hall 1). Steals - South Central 9 (Bruns 3); Potter County 13 (Heuer 3, Nafziger 3, Hall 3). Turnovers - South Central 20; Potter County 19.
