COURTLAND
The Southampton Indians boys basketball team split two contests this week, knocking off Appomattox Regional Governor’s School, 73-55, before falling to Sussex Central, 60-54.

Sophomore forward Darius Bell led the charge in the win over the Dragons, scoring a career-high 19 points to go with a career-high 16 rebounds. Bell wasn’t the only player who stood out to head coach Sharone Bailey, though, who said this was best game his team has played all season.

“It was an all-around effort,” he said. “We had five players score in double digits and everyone was playing well on both ends.”

The Indians turned 29 turnovers into 27 points on Monday evening, something Bailey attests to a change in scheme.

“We switched from our typical 2-3 zone to full court man defense in the third quarter, and that created problems,” he said.

Wednesday night’s results were less than favorable, however, and the final score was not Bailey’s only concern. Senior shooting guard Shane Agunzo went down with a severe ankle sprain just minutes after tipoff, putting the Indians at an early disadvantage.

“He only scored one point before he got hurt,” Bailey said. “He didn’t return to the game and he’s probably done for a few weeks.”

In his teammate’s absence, senior forward Cedrick Parham pitched in a season-high 16 points and seven rebounds.

“He doesn’t do very much scoring, since we rely on Shane and Darius, but he stepped up (on Wednesday),” the coach said.

Trailing the entire game, the Indians cut the Tigers’ lead to three in the final minutes, but two costly turnovers sealed the loss.

The Indians are now 4-3 on the season, 2-3 within the district, and will close out the conference portion of the calendar year with their third-consecutive home game, playing host to Brunswick on Friday. They’ll then travel to Lawrenceville for Brunswick’s annual exhibition holiday tournament on Dec. 26 to 28.