Incredible.
Remarkable.
Fantastic.
Any of the above adjectives could be used to describe the South Spencer boys basketball team’s regular season.
Here’s why — the Rebels racked up an impressive 21 victories, captured a PAC title and finished up on a 13-game winning streak.
That was the good news.
The bad news was, things didn’t go quite as well for South Spencer in their post-season matchup with conference rival North Posey.
The No. 4 ranked Rebels saw a highly successful 2022-23 campaign come to an end after dropping a 58-56 heartbreaker to the Vikings in the opening round of the Class 2A, Sectional 48 Tournament last Tuesday night at Bryan Taylor Sports Arena in Tell City.
Even though his team came within an eyelash of the victory, South Spencer coach Matt Britton said North Posey deserved to come away with the win given how well they played.
South Spencer tried to overcome their early deficit after they trailed 14-10 after one quarter and 27-21 at the halftime break.
The Rebels did that by rallying in the third frame to twice take a one-point lead, 34-33 and 37-36, before the Vikings regained a five-point advantage, 44-39, by quarter’s end.
South Spencer later saw the deficit reach nine points, 50-41, with 4:33 remaining in the contest and still trailed by six, 57-51, with 1:07 left following two free throws by Schipp.
The Rebels, however, refused to throw in the towel.
South Spencer sophomore Kyle Morgan came off the bench and converted an old-fashioned three-point play with :59.5 left, then classmate Ty Brown scored on a layup about 21 seconds later to cut the deficit to 57-56.
“Kyle played with a lot of heart for us tonight. He showed some flashes of what he is capable of,” said Britton. “He has a bright future the next two years here.”
Britton said his team’s late push is what he expected.
“We have been down several times before this season and made late comebacks to pull out close victories, [so] I wasn’t surprised our kids fought back,” said the Rebel coach. “We just couldn’t get that big defensive stop when we needed it, and missed a few too many easy shots.”
Seniors Cale Donoho and Landon Wells paced the Rebel offensive attack with 11 points apiece, while Brown and Nathan Hurt joined Morgan with nine. Wathen led the Vikings’ scoring effort with 15 points courtesy of five three-pointers and Schmitt equaled Graff’s 11.
South Spencer (21-2) was hoping to send the six seniors — Donoho, Wells, Hurt, Kaydin Duvall, Noah Bunner and Taylor Harmon — out with a sectional championship but even though the Rebels fell short of that goal, they still had plenty to be proud of.
“We certainly were hoping to win the sectional, but it’s never easy,” concluded Britton. “[That said] These boys have rewritten the history books at SSHS this year with their [regular] season performance. We thank God for all the favorable nights we’ve had this season and just the same we praise him on nights like this when the ball doesn’t bounce our way. I am thankful for this team, and how they’ve represented our community all winter.”
Photos by Sierra Bruggeman
