Southeastern boys basketball rallies in third quarter, shuts down Amanda-Clearcreek
CHILLICOTHE − The true contents of Southeastern coach Bryan Alley's halftime speech during the Panthers' 58-33 win over Amanda-Clearcreek might never be known.
What will be known, however, are the results it brought. Compared to their first half performance, the Panthers were on fire after the break. In less than three minutes of gametime, they eclipsed their first-half point total and rode that momentum to throttle the Aces on the floor of Southeastern High School on Saturday night.
"The first half was very uncharacteristic of us," Alley said. "We were just sleepwalking through everything, no matter what combinations we tried. Nothing was working. Fortunately, we were only down seven going into the half, and luckily we scored the last six points at the end of the second quarter to get us back to that."
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The rally started off small. A layup by Carter Fisher followed by a 3-pointer from Connor Smith. But the Panthers kept piling on. Another layup by Fisher. Lane Williams added one of his own. The Panthers piled on.
Even after retaking the lead, the Panthers never gave in. A 19-0 run through the opening minutes of the third quarter filled the hole the Panthers fell into and sent the Aces down in their place. The Aces, in return, shot 1-for-11 in the third quarter − their lone basket came from a 3-pointer that broke their scoring drought.
Even then, the Panthers shut the Aces down. Seven of the Aces' 12 points in the second half came off of free throws. They made just two field goals after halftime. The Panthers made two field goals within the first minute of the second half.
After shooting 6-for-25 in the first half, Southeastern considered it a welcome change. Nothing worked for Southeastern before halftime. Shots didn't connect. Amanda-Clearcreek posted up and blocked almost every shot it made in the paint. Rebounds didn't fall its way. For the first five minutes of the game, Southeastern didn't sink a field goal.
"Once we went into halftime, we knew we shouldn't be down eight points," Williams said. "We knew we should've came out better. So we knew we could switch it up in the second half and make a run."
Williams ended the game with a team-high 12 points, while also adding six rebounds and three steals. The junior went scoreless through the first half, but he broke out once the Panthers found a rhythm. He went 5-for-6 from the field after halftime, all the while plugging away at the glass and putting pressure on the Aces one defense.
None of the Panthers had more than four points going into halftime. By the end of the game, seven of the eight Panthers that scored had at least five points. Carter Fisher and Joey Pfeifer ended the game with 10 points apiece after scoring six combined points before the break.
"Coming into the game, I was just thinking on how to turn it around for myself, and help the team out with what I do best," Fisher said.
Some might want to forget the first half of Saturday's game even happened. But the Panthers will take it in stride. After all, a rally only comes along when its needed. Scoring 28 points in the third quarter to turn an eight-point deficit into a 14-point lead doesn't happen every game.
But Southeastern got that game on Saturday. All it needed was a pep talk at halftime.
This article originally appeared on Chillicothe Gazette: Southeastern rallies in third quarter, shuts down Amanda-Clearcreek
