The Southern Boone County boys’ basketball team needed a comeback win to down St. Elizabeth at home Thursday night.

The early minutes of the game didn’t show any signs of trouble ahead for the Eagles. Tyson Smith grabbed a rebound and put back for an quick two. After falling behind 7-4, Brady Trammell drained a three-pointer to tie it up at seven each.

But quick foul trouble for Sam Stichnote put St. Elizabeth at the line a few times and gave them a 15-7 first quarter lead. Stichnote earned his second foul with two minutes to go in the first, forcing him to play conservative defense.

With their best athlete hampered due to fouls, SoBoCo allowed the Hornets to expand their lead to start the second quarter. St. Elizabeth went on a 6-2 run to start the second quarter and the Eagles had quickly found themselves in a 12 point hole.

After head coach Andy Jahnsen called a timeout with 6:34 left in the quarter, it looked as though Southern Boone would get into an offensive groove. Stichnote was fed the ball in the low post and laid it in for a quick two. Then, their defense created some offense on a fast break feed from Nik Post to Rece Gilmore to cut the lead to eight.

Despite a deep three from the Hornets to stretch the lead back to ten, the SoBoCo had taken control of the tempo of the game. The Eagles fast-paced offense that had been successful all season started to come alive as they scored a succession of layups and jump-shots. St. Elizabeth’s lead was cut to eight, 27-19, heading into halftime.

~ Read more in today’s Journal ~

By Briley Eilers