Hutchins leads Lima Senior past Elida

ELIDA - Despite Lima Senior's commanding 74-58 win over Elida in boys basketball Saturday, neither coach was overly impressed or disappointed by his team. There were some good things for both, and the ever-present flaws to correct.

Obviously, Spartans coach Shawn Allen had plenty to be happy about as his team stayed perfect with a 5-0 mark. Anton Hutchins led Lima Senior with 19 points, starting the contest with eight points in the first quarter and added seven in the third.

Marlon Hutchins (12 points) and Jermonte Healey (10, 2 of 4 3-pointers) joined Hutchins in double figures. In all, 10 Lima Senior players broke into the scoring column.

The Spartans held a substantial edge in rebounding, 45-29. Marlon Hutchins (6-foot-5) led the Spartans with nine rebounds and Anton Hutchins had eight. The other big boys down low, 6-7 Warren Pughsley and 6-5 Tyrone Perry, each added five boards.

In addition, the Spartans harassed Elida into 15 turnovers. More importantly for Lima Senior, those gaffes turned into 22 points.

"I thought we rebounded really well, and that's what we needed to do," Allen said. "The difference in the game was our defensive intensity the whole night and our rebounding."

Elida coach Denny Thompson wasn't totally flustered with his squad. Bo Mathias had 18 points to lead the way, with the brothers McAdams coming in just behind - Alex with 15 points and seven rebounds and Reggie with 12 points and four steals.

It was his team's effort that Thompson was willing to hang his hat on.

"There are all kinds of things we're going to take from this game," Thompson said. "I'm not chasing this game from my memory at all. There are definitely some positives we're going to take and build on, and obviously some other things we need to continue to work on."

Lima Senior committed just 12 turnovers - none in the first quarter and one in the third, during which the Spartans held a 40-25 scoring edge.

The Spartans led by as many as 22 points midway through the third quarter, but they let off the gas enough to allow Elida (4-3) back into the contest. With Lima Senior up 60-36 after three quarters, the Bulldogs closed the gap with an 8-1 spurt to start the final stanza.

Regaining control of the game, the Spartans immediately answered with a 7-2 run, including five points from Marlon Hutchins. He had six points in the fourth.

"We just got complacent when we were up 60-36. We let them get a few easy baskets and acted like it would be over. That team's not going to roll over; they have too many good players," Allen said. "To be a great team, you can't have possessions with complacency. But that's something to work on."