Whiteland boys get past Seymour

<p>For the Daily Journal</p><p><strong>W</strong>hiteland boys basketball coach Matt Wadsworth might not have been thrilled with his team’s performance Tuesday night.</p><p>However, he was satisfied with the end result, a 47-37 victory over visiting Seymour.</p><p>“It wasn’t a pretty win, but we won,” Wadsworth said. “We play 4A basketball; every night you have to go out and earn your victory. I was really pleased with our start in the first quarter. We were able to get some easy baskets with our defense. I was disappointed as the second quarter played out that we missed the outside shot and we didn’t attack the basket and go inside to the post. We talked about going inside more at halftime and we did in the second half.”</p>[sc:text-divider text-divider-title="Story continues below gallery" ]Click here to purchase photos from this gallery<p>The difference was Whiteland outscored Seymour 11-4 in the third quarter. Whiteland led 29-19 after three, and each team scored 18 in the fourth.</p><p>Senior guard Brennan Neal sank 5 of 9 shots, including 2 of 4 from 3-point line, en route to a team-high 15 points for the Warriors (3-3). Neal, who also hit all of his four free throws, also had a team-high seven rebounds and three assists.</p><p>“I was really happy with how Brennan rebounded the basketball,” Wadsworth said of Neal. “Some of our early baskets, his rebounding set up the break for us.”</p><p>Whiteland senior forward Carter Crowe finished 12 points, while senior guard Luke Helton had seven points, two assists and three steals.</p><p>“Crowe had two big baskets in the third quarter and a free throw opportunity that was key for us by attacking the basket,” Wadsworth said.</p><p>Eric McCoy was high for the Owls with 16 points, the only player to reach double figures for Seymour.</p><p>Trailing 4-3, the Warriors went on a 12-0 run to take a 15-4 lead late in first quarter.</p><p>After the first quarter ended with Whiteland leading 15-6, the Owls closed the halftime deficit to 18-15 by outscoring the Warriors 9-3 in the second quarter.</p><p>“In the first quarter, we didn’t come out and execute,” Seymour coach Tyler Phillips said. “We talked (before the game) about shot selection and just being patient offensively. We didn’t do that.”</p><p>The Warriors had a 21-15 edge on the boards and made 16 of 36 shots (44 percent) from the field.</p><p>The Warriors are off until Dec. 28 when they play Rock Creek Academy in a the South Ripley tournament.</p><p>“I think our first six games have tested us,” Wadsworth said. “We’ve played different styles and competition. We’ve learned a lot about ourselves, but we have work to do. We challenged them. This game sets the tone for break. Is Christmas break going to be about coaching effort? Or is going to be about coaching basketball? Our effort was good (Tuesday night), but we have to get better skill-wise.”</p>