Somerset —
Southwestern can now break out the brooms.
With a 80-55 victory over Wayne County on Friday night at The Wigwam, the Southwestern Warriors captured the top seed in the 48th District to finish a perfect 6-0 in district games in the 2011-12 high school hoops season.
“It’s something that we were obviously working towards,” began Steve Wright, who is in his first season as the Southwestern head coach. “If you’re going to seed the district, you might as well play for it. We’re kind of glad to have that out of the way.”
The contest was close early on, as the Warriors went into the intermission leading by four points at 34-30. Things would change early in the second half, however, as Wright and company simply went on a roll.
In the opening 30 seconds of the second half, Wayne County’s Dagan Shelton drilled a 3-pointer to cut Southwestern’s lead to a lone point at 34-33. The would be as close as Rodney Woods and the Cardinals would get for the rest of the evening, as the Warriors begin a 17-0 run following Shelton’s trey.
Junior Justin Schulz kicked off the scoring spree for the ‘Blue and Orange’ with a 3-pointer to put the Warriors ahead by four at 37-33. Another Justin, sophomore Justin Edwards, got a lay-up to widen the lead to six.
Freshman Isaiah Collier, who scored all 9 of his points in the third quarter alone, came up with two key scores to continue the Southwestern run. First, the freshman came up with an ‘old-fashioned’ 3-point play, and then followed that with a pair of free-throws. After Collier’s five points, the Warriors led 44-33 over the defending regional champion Cardinals.
With a lay-up from sophomore David Kapinga, along with a made charity toss from Collier, Southwestern grabbed a 47-33 advantage with 5:08 left in the third stanza.
Kapinga would add another lay-up and two made free-throws before the 17-0 run came to a halt.
A lay-up from the Cardinals’ Corey Stearns brought an end to the run that saw Wright and crew score 17 unanswered points and take a 51-35 lead. The Warriors’ defensive pressure was simply too much for Wayne County to handle, as the Cardinals committed eight turnovers in the third period.
The Cardinals could never recover from Southwestern’s momentum killing run. With that run, Southwestern was able to pick up a 25-point victory and, more importantly, claim the top seed for next month’s Boys 48th District Tournament, which will be held at McCreary Central High School.
“That just shows how aggravated we were with our play in the first half,” explained Wright in regards of the Warriors’ stellar play in the third frame.
Wright was pleased with the way his team came out of the halftime break after a first half where the Warriors came out flat.
“It was kind of a slow start to the game, and that happens sometimes,” explained the Warrior hoops coach. “If you’re going to be flat, the start of the game is the time to do it. You don’t want to come out flat after halftime.”
The Cardinals came out and played toe-to-toe with Southwestern in the opening half, the same Warrior squad that downed Wayne County, 82-46, on December 9th.
“Give Wayne County credit, they played well in the first half,” credited Wright. “Anytime you beat somebody pretty good the first time, there is a tendency not to come ready to play. I don’t think that will happen to us anymore. That was a good lesson for us.”
Leading the way once again for Southwestern was Kapinga, who finished with 17 points on the night. The sophomore tallied 10 of his team-high 17 points in the opening quarter, which was a period that saw Southwestern grab a 17-13 lead.
Schulz was also one of four players to reach double figures, as the junior finished with 11 points. Senior Cody Epperson and Edwards each scored 10 points in the 25-point win over Wayne County.
Trey Blevins led all scorers with 20 points for the Cardinals. In his 20-point performance, Blevins knocked down five treys. Stearns wasn’t far behind, as he tallied 16 points in the loss to Southwestern.
The Warriors, 17-6 on the year, returned to action yesterday afternoon at Powell. Southwestern will hit the hardwood again on Thursday evening, as the Warriors will travel across town to face the Somerset Briar Jumpers in a cross-town match-up at 7:30 p.m. at The Briar Patch.
WC 13 15 11 14 — 55
SW 17 15 33 13 — 80
WAYNE COUNTY (14-9): Blevins 20, Stearns 16, Perkins 6, Shelton 6, Woods 3, Cravens 1.
SOUTHWESTERN (17-6): Kapinga 17, Schulz 11, Edwards 10, C. Epperson 10, Lewis 9, Collier 9, J. Epperson 7, Isaacs 3, Gaskin 2.
Local Sports
Related Photos
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Southwestern High School sophomore Justin Edwards (right) scored 10 points in the Warriors’ 80-55 win over Wayne County High School on Friday night at the Wigwam. Wade Upchurch Photo
Warriors sweep District 48 play
Southwestern downs Wayne County, 80-55
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