Defensive intensity.
Every basketball team wants it, and every basketball team needs it to be successful.
The Class 3A Southmoreland boys had it Friday night in their matchup with Class 4A Elizabeth Forward.
The Scotties played in-your-face, tough and physical defense all night and extended their winning streak to five games with an impressive 64-49 triumph on the road.
“We were tenacious on defense tonight,” Southmoreland coach Frank Muccino said. “We have had some real duds this season, but tonight we played with a lot of intensity. We challenged them before the game and told them that this was like a playoff game. That is a really good team.”
Noah Felentzer poured in a game-high 26 points for the Scotties (9-6) and was a focal point in the defensive effort.
“Noah was locked in,” Muccino said. “You can always tell how good of a night Noah is going to have by the way he plays defense. When he is a willing participant on the defensive end, he is going to be more involved and get to a lot of loose balls for easy points.”
Brock Pritts was also in double figures for the visitors with 16 points, and Ty Whoric chipped in nine. Southmoreland will continue nonsection play against Quaker Valley on Tuesday at home.
The Warriors (8-6) could not get anything going offensively and struggled with scoreless lulls.
“I am disappointed with our overall effort, and I really don’t know what to take away from this game,” EF coach Nolan Larry said. “We showed some life and had a good spurt in the second half, but it was way too late. I will take the blame, and I got to get us more prepared to play.”
Kellan Watson and Tyler Basic scored 13 and 10 points, respectively, for EF.
With the score knotted at 6-6, the Scotties grabbed separation in the opening quarter by ending the frame with a 14-8 rally. Felentzer scored 11 points in the first period as the road team led 20-14 at the end of one.
Southmoreland continued to get timely baskets and stops on defense to open the second quarter as it started with an 8-2 spree.
At the 7-minute, 18-second mark of the second quarter, one of EF’s top scorers, Daniel Spence, was hurt around the basket with a lower-body injury. The senior guard returned later in the quarter but did not play in the second half. Southmoreland led 32-21 at halftime.
After Jacob Peterson tallied the opening basket in the third for the Warriors, the Scotties responded with 14 consecutive points as Whoric and Pritts nailed shots from beyond the arc.
Trailing 46-23 midway through the third, EF’s offense finally found a spark and ended the frame with a 13-2 run. Watson started and ended the spurt with treys, and EF was only down 48-36 going into the final quarter.
“We once again had a sluggish first half, and we could not find that juice early on,” Larry said. “That has been our Achilles’ heel this season. We get off to slow starts. But credit to Southmoreland tonight, they put together some great sets and shut us down with their defense.”
After the visitors scored the first bucket of the fourth, the Warriors rattled off eight unanswered points as a 3 by Basic made it 50-44 with less than five minutes left to play.
Despite the late second-half run, Southmoreland flexed its poise and composure quickly and cemented victory with 10 straight points.
The Scotties did most of their scoring damage at the free-throw line in the fourth, shooting 9-for-12 at the charity stripe.
“Our defense was there all four quarters,” Muccino said. “We did a good job of identifying their shooters. We also rebounded the ball well, and they did not give any second shots. It is a good win against a good team, but we will be back to work tomorrow and try to get a little bit better.”
Up next for EF is a Section 3-4A contest Tuesday at East Allegheny.
“We have to regroup and rebound from this loss,” Larry said. “It starts in practice, and it will start with our defense. We have had to battle around injuries and some sickness on our team these last couple of days. But this group is a mentally tough group, and they know how to bounce back.”