COLONY — With only six players on the roster last season, Southern Coffey County High’s struggled to a 1-18 mark.
But with those painful lessons came valuable experience, and with a handful of younger players added to the mix, has paved the way for a fresh slate to open the 2020-21 campaign.
So far so good.
The Titans rode some blistering outside shooting, hitting 10 3-pointers in a 59-52 season-opening victory over host Crest High.
“It feels good,” Titan head coach Trevor Smith said. “I like to win, but you could tell in that locker room, it was a whole different thing for the players.”
Southern Coffey County answered every challenge Crest posed, including a key sequence in the third quarter after the Lancers took their first lead of the game on a Kobey Miller 3-pointer.
Brayton Lind responded with a trey of his own for Southern Coffey County to tie the score at 36-36, then the Titans’ Nathan Borntreger scored on a drive to put SCC up by 2. Crest’s Keaton Davis put the Lancers back up on top with a 3-pointer, 39-38, but Wade Gleue was there for the response with a bucket to end the scoring and SCC up 40-39. Gleue then opened the fourth quarter with another 3-pointer to push Southern Coffey County lead to four.
The Titans never trailed again.
“I was proud of their ability to bounce back and deal with it,” Smith said. “I was kind of worried. We had the lead but kind of gave it away.”
The Titans were on fire out of the gate, hitting seven 3-pointers en route to taking a 30-29 lead into the locker room at halftime.
Crest responded each time, even with limited practice time heading up to the season-opener.
The Lancers had three starters miss extended practice time after being placed on quarantine orders as part of the COVID-19 threat. And that was on top of a delayed start to practice for several key players because of Crest’s extended football playoff run.
“For our fourth full day of practice, it was all right,” Crest head coach Travis Hermreck said. “Give them credit. They made a lot of 3-pointers.”
Despite the loss, Hermreck was more than a little optimistic about his team’s outlook on the young season.
“I hate losing, and I’m the first person to say that,” he said. “But I saw so many positive things tonight that I’m really excited about. It’s just a matter of keeping the kids’ heads up.”
The Titan then put the game away down the stretch by making key stops on defense.
“It was the defense,” Smith agreed. “Even though we had a lackluster rebounding performance, our ability to steal the ball, get our hands in there and make good plays was key.”
Borntreger led the way with 20 points, followed by Lind with 15 and Gleue with 14.
