Springs Valley Community High School

The Springs Valley boys’ basketball team continued a season filled with tests on Friday night with another that’s always challenging, a trip to Crawford County. The Blackhawks traveled to Marengo and what awaited them lived up to expectations. The game was physical and, at times, ugly. The teams combined to commit 36 fouls and 36 turnovers. It was hotly contested at the same time though. The Blackhawks had a chance to tie it at the buzzer before falling 57-54. It wasn’t the result the Blackhawks wanted, but it was the effort they were after. They won the turnover battle 21-15 and kept up with the Wolfpack on the boards, they just weren’t able to make the plays they needed to at the end of the game. “I thought we played with tons of energy tonight. I thought the effort was there tonight. We knew we were going to have to match Crawford’s effort,” Springs Valley coach Jonathon Bowles said. “I told everybody before the game that I feel like Crawford plays harder than any other team I’ve watched play all year. They play extremely hard, they dive on loose balls, and that made for one crazy game because we’re trying to do the same thing.” Springs Valley’s effort was led by Deion Edwards. The sophomore put together one of his better performances of the season, finishing with a game-high 20 points and eight rebounds. He also had a pair of assists, including one in the closing minutes to James Walls for a big 3-pointer, and three steals. It was the sort of performance that the Blackhawks want to see from him on a nightly basis. “That’s what we want,” Bowles said. “We’ve really been challenging him the last two weeks to bring it effort-wise and we really feel like the effort was there tonight.” One of the biggest differences between Springs Valley and Crawford County on Friday came at the free-throw line. First, the Wolfpack was there much more frequently, outshooting the Blackhawks 24-12 over the course of the game. Beyond that, the Wolfpack also did a better job of making their free throws, hitting 16 of 24 compared to Springs Valley’s 5-of-12 performance. The difference was even more stark in the fourth quarter. The Wolfpack shot 10 free throws in the game’s final period, hitting five. The Blackhawks shot three and missed all of them. “You’ve got to make the most of yours. That’s what it comes down to,” Bowles said. “At the end of games you have to make plays and part of making plays is stepping up and hitting free throws. We didn’t do that.” Springs Valley (4-6, 2-2 PLAC) has now lost four games in a row and, with its second loss in the Patoka Lake Athletic Conference, has likely fallen out of the race to repeat as league champions. That disappointment, however, gives the coaching staff a valuable opportunity to see how this team responds to adversity. They’ll get that opportunity on Saturday as they host Tecumseh. “We have to have the same effort and fly around like we did tonight, then the next thing we have to do is execute,” Bowles said. “I thought we did a good job with that at the beginning of the game, but when things aren’t going our way and the game’s getting fast we have to be able to slow things down and get in the offense.” SPRINGS VALLEY BLACKHAWKS 54 3P;AFG;FT;R;PF;Pts Chase, g;3-4;5-8;0-2;2;1;13 Pritchett, g;0-0;1-2;0-0;1;1;2 Walls, g;2-4;2-7;0-0;3;0;6 Edwards, f;3-9;7-15;3-5;8;4;20 Childers, f;0-1;2-3;0-0;2;4;4 Land;1-7;1-8;0-0;2;1;3 Hamilton;0-1;2-3;1-2;1;5;3 Cook;0-0;0-1;1-3;3;4;1 Pendley;0-0;0-0;0-0;0;2;0 Totals;9-26;20-47;5-12;22;21;54 Shooting;.346;.426;.417 CRAWFORD COUNTY WOLFPACK 57 3P;AFG;FT;R;PF;Pts Nickelson, g;0-0;5-10;5-7;7;4;15 Sattler, g;0-0;1-3;0-0;5;0;2 Grizzel;0-2;0-4;0-1;1;0;0 Belcher, g;0-1;4-7;5-5;3;4;13 Wheatley;0-0;0-1;0-0;0;2;0 Seibert, f;1-2;6-8;5-8;7;4;18 Stroud, f;0-0;4-8;1-3;7;1;9 Totals;1-5;20-41;16-24;30;15;57 Shooting;.200;.488;.667 Springs Valley (4-6);16;15;15;8—54 Crawford County (3-8);14;8;22;13—57 TO: Crawford County 21, Springs Valley 15.