by

Richie Hall

Sports Editor

Hamilton County Reporter

After a tough first half, Hamilton Southeastern broke away from Westfield in the third quarter and rode the momentum to a 67-56 victory Friday night in the second game of a Hoosier Crossroads Conference girl-boy doubleheader.

The Shamrocks scored the first basket of the game, a 3-pointer by freshman Braden
Smith. The Royals’ first points came from a putback by sophomore Vinny Buccilla, and that set the tone for the game, as both young stars would lead their respective teams.

Noah Smith give HSE a 5-3 lead on a 3-pointer, after which Westfield went on an
8-0 run. Zach Banks scored four points during that time. The Royals cut the lead to
11-10 by the end of the quarter, including a 3 from Aaron Etherington, who was returning after missing some game with an ankle injury.

Smith got Southeastern ahead 15-13 early in the second period with five quick
points, including a 3. Landon Morris scored six points in the later minutes of the quarter; his basket after an offensive rebounds put the Royals up 23-19. Banks made two free throws with seven second left in the half to keep Westfield within 23-21 at halftime.

HSE coach Brian Satterfield said the team tried to pick up its energy level during
halftime, and did just that.

“At the defensive end, I thought we were more active and got our hands on some
things,” said Satterfield. “And then when that happened, that allowed us to get out and go in transition. And we definitely were more efficient offensively.”
Southeastern began to roll in the third quarter, with Buccilla leading the charge. He
threw in five 3-pointers in that period, which ended with the Royals ahead 49-33.

“He did a nice job,” said Satterfield. “He just keeps growing. He didn’t get his shot to
quite fall in the first half, but he really stepped up and hit some big shots for us. The
thing is, once he hit them, guys were looking for him and got him the basketball there when he was on that run.”

The momentum from the third quarter helped carry Southeastern through the fourth quarter, even as the Shamrocks made one last big push by finishing the game on an 11-0 run. Smith made five 3-pointers in that quarter, he would lead all scorers with 22 points and total six 3-pointers.

Buccilla led the Royals with 17 points, while Smith earned a double-double of 11
points and 10 assists. Smith also played well on defense with four steals.

“That second half, he was that motor that made us go,” said Satterfield. “He didn’t
have to score as much, and he kept finding guys that could hit the open shot for us. He was our leading scorer at halftime, but then in the second half, he became our distributor and that’s what you got to love about him. He comes out and he does what we need to try and win ball games.”

Chris Grubbs led the Southeastern rebounding with six, with Smith grabbing
five. The Royals had eight blocked shots as a team, with Mabor Majak making four
blocks and Morris getting three.

After Braden Smith’s 22, Banks and Welch each scored 16 points. Welch hit four
3-pointers and had five rebounds. Benji Welch handed out five assists.

“We just allowed them too many easy baskets in the lane,” said Westfield coach
Shane Sumpter. “That was our whole deal is that we just can’t let them transition
baskets. We can’t turn the ball over leading to transition baskets. And I thought that first three minutes of the second half was really the basketball game. All of those things happened. We had some turnovers, we had some quick shots that led to their transition baskets and then they got a lot of stuff in the
lane.”

Still, Sumpter thought his team did “a lot of good things” during the game.
“I thought we got off to a good start,” said Sumpter. “I thought our first half went
as planned. Missed a couple shots and really felt like we could’ve been up a couple
buckets at the half.”

Southeastern is 2-1 in the conference and 9-4 overall, while the ‘Rocks are 1-2 in the
HCC and 6-4 overall. Both teams are scheduled to play games tonight – the Royals
would travel to Anderson (that game has now been postponed due to weather & is rescheduled for February 12th at Anderson) while Westfield would host Lafayette Jefferson.