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South Gibson Star-Times Sports Tuesday, March 1, 2022 B-3 TITANS Continued from page 1 Titans fall to North Posey in Jekyll and Hyde match-up By Mike Sandifar Star-Times Sports sports@sgstartimes.com The 2021-22 basketball season for Gibson Southern High School could best be described as author Robert Louis Stevenson's story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in terms of dual personalities, and the Titans showed the side once again of Mr. Hyde in Friday night's 55 -45 loss in Poseyville to North Posey High School in boys' Pocket Athletic Confer- ence (PAC) basketball action to close out the regular season for both teams. The Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde story is a narrative about the complexities of science and the duplicity of human nature, and that scenario "could be" a pretty accurate description of how the regular season went for Gibson Southern this year. When the science of the game preparation was imple- mented by the Titans on the floor, they were very success- ful and won some very big games, but when the duplici- ty of human nature overrode the science, the results were not good. "When we are good, we are very good, and we had some very good moments again here tonight, but so many times this year, we have com- mitted self-inflicted wounds that we have not been able to overcome. We did it again to- night," moaned Gibson South- ern Basketball Coach Mark Rohrer after the game. The Titans fell behind 15 - 11 at the end of the first eight minutes of play against the host Vikings, and the half- time score was just 25 -20, in favor of North Posey, as the two PAC teams played even in the second period. Gibson Southern was just nine of 26 from the floor in the first two quarters, but the Ti- tan defense was good, allow- ing the Vikings just 25 count- ers in the opening 16 minutes of play. North Posey still held a five- point advantage at the end of the third stanza, leading 39 - 34. The Titans turned the bas- ketball over just seven times in the game, once in each of the first two quarters, and once in the third period. However, in the fourth quarter, with four minutes to play, and the Vi- kings still holding a five-point advantage, Gibson Southern turned the basketball over on three straight offensive possessions, none of which were forced by the Viking de- fense. For all practical purpos- es, the game was over, as the lead went from five points to 11 points in less than a minute. Gibson Southern did not have enough time to recov- er from the "self-inflicted" wounds to get back in the con- test, falling 55 -45. Senior Drew Foster and ju- nior Jaxun Lamb each netted 13 points to lead the Gibson Southern scoring attack. Fos- ter, a 6' guard, connected on four of nine shot attempts, two of five from two-point range and two of four from behind the three-point line for his 13 counters, while Lamb, a 5'11" backcourt performer, made six of 15 tries at the basket, five of nine from inside the three-point arc and one of six from beyond the three-point line. Kaden Hurless, a 6'1" se- nior, was the only other Titan to score in double-digits. Hur- less tossed in 11 markers for the visitors. Rory Heltsley, a 6'4" senior, added four points for GSHS, while 6' senior Noah Bry- ant and 6'2" classmate Car- son Brindle both scored two points for Gibson Southern to account for the 45 Titan points in the game. Jonathon Ricketts, a 6'6" senior, led all scorers and re- bounders in the fray, pumping in 25 points and hauling in 14 missed shots for the Vikings. Classmate Harold Bender add- ed another 12 tallies for the winners. They were the only Vikings to notch double fig- ures for the hosts. Heltsley led the Titans in re- bounding, grabbing seven er- rant shots, while Foster pulled in six caroms from his guard spot. For the game, Gibson Southern connected on 19 of 51 field goal attempts (37.3 percent), including three of 14 from behind the three-point stripe (21.4 percent). The Ti- tans made good on four of five shots from the free throw line (80.0 percent). The Vikings canned 20 of 38 shots from the floor (52.6 percent), including two of four from "long distance" (50.0 per- cent), and 13 of 20 free throw opportunities (52.0 percent). North Posey outrebounded Gibson Southern 29 -23. Both teams committed just seven turnovers in the contest, as both teams did a great job of taking care of the basketball in the 32-min- ute event. However, the three straight turnovers by the Ti- tans in less than a minute in the fourth quarter proved to be disastrous for the Titans. "I think we are prepared and ready, and then, we make unforced mistakes, or we try to do things with the basket- ball that are simply not there." said Rohrer in the post-game interview, Self-inflicted wounds… With the loss, the Titans fin- ished the regular season with a 10 -11 overall record, includ- ing a 6 -5 conference (seventh place) mark. Gibson Southern will play Heritage Hills tonight Tues- day) in the opening round of the Indiana High School Ath- letic Association (IHSA A) Sectional #32 in Boonville. "I feel good about our chances with Heritage Hills," said Rohrer after Friday's out- ing at North Posey, "I think we will get the job done." With 27.5 seconds remain- ing, and Titans leading 50 -49, Bryant again went to the free throw stripe, this time with a one-and-one opportunity. Bry- ant put the first free throw at- tempt through the iron, but his second try was off the mark. Forest Park rebounded and hurried the basketball down the court, trailing 51-49. Taking a pass from Hase- nour, Berg fired home a three- point bomb from deep in the corner that hit "nothing but net" to give the Rangers a 52-51 lead with 12.6 seconds showing on the clocks. A fter a time out by Gibson Southern, senior Drew Foster put up a long three-point shot that went "in and out" of the Titan basket, and Hasenour grabbed the rebound with less than three seconds remaining in the hard-fought event, and was immediately fouled by the Titans. Hasenour missed both of his free throw opportunities, giving the Titans one last gasp at victory, but Brindle's half court shot was off to the left to give the host Rangers the 52-51 conference win on se- nior night. Gibson Southern had a trio of double figure scorers in the game, led by Bryant and Lamb with 12 points each, while 6'1" senior Kaden Hurless added another 10 counters in the contest for the Titans. Foster tossed in nine mark- ers in the fray, including a per- fect four of four from the floor, connecting on three of three from inside the three-point arc and adding a three-pointer. Brindle put home six tal- lies for Gibson Southern and 6'4" senior Rory Heltsley had a two-point basket for two points to account for all 51 of the Titan scoring. Forest Park's Hasenour led all scorers in the encounter with 22 points. For the game, Gibson Southern hit 18 of 35 shots from the floor (51.4 percent), including eight of 15 from be- yond the three-point arc (53.3 percent). From the free throw line, the Titans tossed in eight of 15 opportunities (53.3 per- cent). The Rangers put 20 of 45 total shots through the iron (44.4 percent), including six of 17 from "long distance" (35.3 percent). At the unguarded line, the hosts hit on just six of 14 tries (42.9 percent). Forest Park won the bat- tle of the boards 20 -18, outre- bounding Gibson Southern by two rebounds. The Titans committed 13 turnovers in the fray, six com- ing in the final seven minutes of the contest, while the Rang- ers coughed the basketball up 10 times, just one of those 10 coming in the final period of play. Eleven of the 18 Gibson Southern baskets came via an assist. Bryant led the Titans with four assists, while Fos- ter handed out another three. The loss dropped Gibson Southern to 10 -10 on the year, including 6 -4 in league action, while the win put Forest Park at 10 -9 on the season. The Titans completed regu- lar season play last Friday eve- ning in a PAC encounter with North Posey High School in Poseyville. Gibson Southern opens the 2022 Boonville IHSA A Sectional #32 action tonight (Tuesday) against Heritage Hills. Carson Brindle (33), a 6'2" senior, puts home two points for Gibson Southern in last Tuesday's 52-51 loss to Forest Park, in Ferdinand. Brindle scored six points for the Titans. Gibson Southern guard Drew Foster (4) scores two of his nine points in last Tuesday's 52-51 heart-stop- ping loss to Pocket Athletic Conference (PAC) oppo- nent Forest Park, in Ferdinand. Foster, a 6'1" senior, drilled all four of his shot attempts against the Rang- ers, putting home three three-point tries, and one of one from "long distance," for his nine counters in a losing effort. Senior Drew Foster (4) scores over a pair of North Posey defenders for Gibson Southern in Friday's Pocket Athletic Conference (PAC) outing in Poseyville. Fos- ter, a 6' senior, put home 13 points in the contest. The Titans fell to the Vikings 55-45 in both teams' final regular season basketball contest.