South downs Ansonia

0

WEST ALEXANDRIA — With several former players in attendance as Twin Valley South celebrated Tony Augspurger’s 400th win, he and his team were busy earning his 402nd victory on the court.

South downed Ansonia 49-37, using a dominant stretch in the fourth quarter to earn the “W” on Friday, Jan. 8.

It was a defensively dominated first half, with the Panthers heading into the break ahead, 14-12.

“Their defense is good. (Ansonia’s) Chad (Cramer) is a very good coach. We’re kind of sorry to see him back in the league because he does a great job,” joked Augspurger. “He’s had a lot of success. It’s kind of confusing. It’s always harder in the first half, especially when someone is running something different, it’s not where you can say ‘We’re going to run two, we’re going to run this.’ Your playbook is a little shorter in the first half.”

In the third, Ansonia tied the game or took the lead twice, culminating with a three-point bucket to put the Tigers ahead 22-21 with just over three minutes remaining.

“They made every open shot they got. I don’t think we gave them a ton of open shots, but every time they had an open one, they made it,” said Augspurger. “I thought we responded well. We didn’t panic. We continued to work on defense and finally, we had a five minute stretch where we played really well.”

That was the last lead of the night for Ansonia, as South put together 16-2 run for an eight minute stretch, spanning until there was just over three minutes left in the contest.

Jacob Bassler ended the game with 19 points and eight rebounds. J.J. Utz added 12 points and four assists while Ryan Bassler chipped in six points. Winston Crosier and Andrew Augspurger contributed five points apiece. Augspurger also pulled down seven boards.

The Panthers were scheduled to head to Tri-Village for a match-up on Tuesday, Jan. 12 and will host Newton on Friday, Jan. 15 at 6 p.m.

Jacob Bassler rises up for a jumper in the second quarter against Ansonia on Friday, Jan. 8. Bassler finished the game with 19 points and eight rebounds as South won 49-37.
http://aimmedianetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/41/2016/01/web1_Bass.jpgJacob Bassler rises up for a jumper in the second quarter against Ansonia on Friday, Jan. 8. Bassler finished the game with 19 points and eight rebounds as South won 49-37.

By Jeremy Erskine

[email protected]

No posts to display