Indian Lake fended off Bellefontaine with a fourth-quarter surge to win a battle of local boys hoops teams Tuesday night.
Holding a two-point lead after three quarters, the visiting Lakers outscored the Chiefs 19-11 in the final period to secure a 45-35 victory.
The Lakers improve to 7-6, while Bellefontaine drops to 0-11.
“It wasn’t great offensive basketball tonight, but I was happy to see the guys play defense the way they did,” said Indian Lake head coach Zach Overturf. “Defense has been our focus. I know we have guys that can score, so I wasn’t really concerned about that. We have really been working on our defense.”
Bellefontaine cut a nine-point halftime deficit to two (26-24) at the end of the third quarter, but could not stay with the Lakers down the stretch.
“It’s frustrating because we have shown that we can play with pretty much everybody on our schedule in stretches,” said BHS head coach Jason Calton. “We just can’t put a complete four-quarter effort together. We have to be able to play good defense and good offense on the same night. We have been struggling to do that. Our defense was pretty good tonight, but we just didn’t knock down enough shots.”
Indian Lake opened the fourth quarter with a bucket from Austin Parker and a three-pointer by Zander Barnes to create a seven-point cushion. Bellefontaine did not get closer than four points the rest of the way.
“Austin picked up his third foul and he was on the bench most of the third quarter,” said Overturf. “I felt like we just needed to survive the third quarter with the lead, and if we could do that, we would be OK.”
Inconsistent offensive play again plagued Bellefontaine as it could not get into a rhythm against the Lakers.
“We have to keep working and try to find some things that can get our offense going,” said Calton. “But give Indian Lake credit. Coach Overturf and his guys are a scrappy group and they made plays when they needed them tonight.”
Austin Parker and Clay Jacobs carried the scoring load for the Lakers. Parker scored a game-high 19 points and Jacobs had 13. Nate Reichert had six and Barnes chipped in five.
Maverick Calton led the Chiefs with eight points. Jarrid Baughman and Hunter Warner had six points each and Carter Sterling added five.
In the junior varsity game, Indian Lake won 52-42. Caleb Wurster led the Lakers with 16 points and Jack Hutchins had 12 points for the Chiefs.
Bellefontaine’s freshman team beat Greenon 43-32. Collin Deitsch led the Chiefs with 11 points and Declan Shannon had 10 points.
Both teams are back in action Friday. The Chiefs host Jonathan Alder and the Lakers play at Benjamin Logan.
INDIAN LAKE 45, BELLEFONTAINE 35
INDIAN LAKE (7-6)
LaRiva 0 2-3 2; Barnes 1 2-2 5; Jacobs 5 1-5 13; A. Parker 7 4-4 19; Reichert 3 0-0 6. Totals: 16 9-14 45.
BELLEFONTAINE (0-11)
Smith 1 1-2 3; Ashcraft 0 3-4 3; Sterling 2 0-0 5; Baughman 2 0-0 6; Calton 2 2-2 8; Belser 2 0-1 4; Warner 2 2-2 6. Totals: 11 8-11 35.
Lakers 10 • 14 • 2 • 19 — 45
Chiefs 2 • 13 • 9 • 11 — 35
Three pointers: Indian Lake (Jacobs 2, Barnes, Parker); Bellefontaine 5 (Calton 2, Baughman 2, Sterling). Team fouls: Indian Lake 16; Bellefontaine 16.