LCC roughs up St. Marys

LIMA - Perhaps veteran Lima Central Catholic coach Bob Seggerson said it best when he commented after Saturday night's game with visiting St. Marys, "It was a tale of two halves."

LCC won the second half in a big way to grab a 60-33 victory.

The Roughriders, despite coming into the game with an 0-8 record, started fast and hit 7 of their first 12 shots from the field against the T-Birds' man-to-man defense and grabbed a 14-11 lead after one quarter.

"We came out flat and not ready to play," Seggerson said. "They got a little confidence early when they hit those shots."

The Roughriders continued to play well in the second quarter; hitting 4 of 8 from the field to take a 23-19 lead into the half.

The T-Birds struggled against the 2-3 zone defense St. Marys deployed and managed only 8 of 26 (30 percent) shooting in the first half.

"I didn't give a Knute Rockne speech at half-time," Seggerson said. "But we did make a couple of adjustments."

And boy did they ever work.

The T-Birds (6-3) outscored the Roughriders 41-10 in the second half as they pulled away for the victory.

The two adjustments the T-Birds made were to get the ball into the paint and play good aggressive defense.

LCC got the ball into the paint to the tune of 76 percent shooting from the floor in the second half, making good on 16 of 21 shots from the field.

Many of those shots were lay-ups following a steal or a close-in shot following an assist following Desi Kirkman's penetration.

After the fast start in the first half by the Roughriders, they had no answer to the LCC pressure in the second half.

"I'm very disappointed," St. Marys coach Paul Sadler said. "I commended the team at the half because we got most of our points in the paint. We panicked under their second half pressure and just fired up threes. We have to hold our composure, we have only ourselves to blame."

The Roughriders managed only 21 percent from the field in the second half on 3 of 14 shooting.

"We wore them out," Seggerson said. "But give them credit, they played hard."

LCC was led by Austin Stolly with a game-high 13 points while Kirkman chipped in with 12 points.

After committing only three first half turnovers, St. Marys had 10 in the second half that helped seal their doom.

The T-Birds totaled 27 rebounds to only 17 for St. Marys, including zero Roughrider rebounds in the third period and only two in the fourth quarter.