Braves win at Robinson 63-58
Dec. 8—Host Robinson had two significant scoring droughts Tuesday night in interstate high school basketball — and a drought from the free throw line all night — and that was enough to keep the Maroons from overcoming a solid, balanced effort from Terre Haute South.
The Braves had an 11-point lead at the midpoint of the fourth quarter, but Robinson got within 61-58 on a 3-pointer by Wesley Jackson with 9.8 seconds left — despite the fact that South missed just two shots the entire fourth quarter. But Parker Mahurin threw an in-bounds pass over the Robinson press to Kyle Cottee for the clinching layup as South won 63-58.
"Anytime you win on the road, it's a great win," coach Maynard Lewis of the Braves said afterward. "It's a tough place to play, [Robinson is] well coached . . . but we didn't finish well at all, and we've got to work on that."
Robinson scored seven straight points in the first quarter to break a 5-5 tie, then had a four-minute scoreless streak while South was scoring 11 points in a row to take the lead.
The second quarter was back and forth once the Maroons got back on track, and Robinson got the first five points of the third quarter to go up 37-34. Then the Maroons went dry again as South scored the next 10 points, and the Braves led the rest of the way. Robinson's 5-for-13 shooting at the line, including an 0-for-4 third quarter, didn't help the home team's cause.
"We missed free throws, we didn't finish strong around the basket . . . South was a lot stronger than we were," said coach Mack Thompson of the Maroons. "They played physical with us and we let it affect us."
The Braves seemed to take turns offensively, with Cottee having a strong first quarter, Xsa'Zion Rowe scoring 11 points in the last four minutes of the second period and Amariyae Wilson, as expected, making big plays late in the game.
"It was a great team effort," Lewis agreed. "We shared the basketball well."
Rowe came off the bench to lead the Braves with 16 points, while Cottee and Zayvion Baker getting 11 each, Amariyae Wilson 10 and Dontarious Alvarez eight, all of his in the second half.
Cooper Loll led all scorers with 17 points for Robinson before fouling out late in the game. Jackson and Rylan King scored 10 each for the Maroons, but leading scorer Noah Gilmore was held to eight by South's inside defense.
"We've got pieces," Thompson said after the game, "we've just got to figure out what puzzle they go to. And this is five straight games where we've given up more than 60 points and we can't be doing that."
