Sports

Boys Basketball: Lancers fall in controversial fashion

Posted on: Saturday, February 25, 2012

After finishing the season on a five-game winning streak, the Federal Hocking Lancers suffered a tough loss in their first playoff game on Friday night to Southeastern, 48-47.

Both teams got out to a bit of a slow start as the shots weren’t falling and the first quarter ended with the team tied at 10 points each. However, the second quarter was a different story.

Max Carney, who finished the game with 15 points, carried the team and got the Lancers’ momentum going to the tune of an 11-0 run to start the quarter. Southeastern couldn’t hit their shots and were outscored 16 to 3 in the second quarter, heading into the locker room at the break, down 26-13.

The Panthers dominated the second half where they outscored Federal Hocking, 35-21. Sloppy play from the second quarter carried over to the third quarter for both teams, who finished the game with Fed Hock losing the turnover battle, 18-11. The Lancers had trouble knocking down shots and Southeastern was helped out greatly by the referees as they were sent to the free throw line all quarter. The Panthers finished the night attempting 25 free throws, compared to Federal Hockings 13 attempts.

The foul trouble affected the Lancers tremendously as their big man Chris Saylor watched most of the game from the bench due to early foul trouble. He finished the game with two points and seven rebounds. The team was also hurt when point guard Shawn Parsons fouled out with 1:30 left in the game. Parsons helped the team out early, hitting his first three shots from behind the arc, finishing with 11 points.

Federal Hocking couldn’t get the ball rolling in the fourth quarter, but kept the game competitive. Senior Wes Dixon stepped up for Fed Hock hitting several big shots and he finished with nine points in his final game as a Lancer. But the hero of the night was Southeastern’s Nick Kellogg who hit the game winning three point shot with just over 20 seconds left in the game to give the Panthers a 48-47 lead.

That was all that they would need as Federal Hocking missed their final two shot attempts as their season came to an end. The Lancers finish the season with an overall record of 12-9.