As music played and fans roared, the SHS boys basketball team stepped out to play Lawrence Central in the Marion County semifinals on Jan. 11. They faced a kind of pressure they were not familiar with considering they had not made that much progress in the tournament in five years. Since then, a new coach has been hired and players have been replenished, making this a new experience for all.

As of Jan 7, Lawrence Central was ranked second in the state, making this game no easy feat for the Cardinals. Going into it, they knew they had to put their best foot forward.

The Cardinals came out slow with Lawrence Central scoring the first 11 points of the game. Junior Brevin Jefferson broke that streak with a layup, giving some momentum to the Cardinals. They ended up cutting the lead to seven by the end of the first quarter.

Despite efforts by the home team, LC continued to dominate. Senior Chaz Hinds was in foul trouble for much of the game and the team lost momentum by giving up rebounds and missing shots. At halftime Southport was losing 29-12.

In the second half, the Cardinals were unable to get back into the game. They tried and retried different strategies but the cards ended up losing 66-31.

Jefferson played an important role in keeping Southport from giving up. He was the top scorer with 12 points and acted as a leader for the team.

Even without playing their best basketball, Head Coach Eric Brand said he was “proud of their effort” through the previous games of the tournament. They plan to continue working with fundamentals to get back to what they had going during their six game winning streak.

“I want

to get back on a streak and get hot and win a sectional,” said senior guard Brian Miller.

Gallery • 10 Photos

Kelsey Jones

Junior Brevin Jefferson drives against a Lawrence Central defender on Jan. 11 in the semifinals of the Marion County tournament. SHS lost 66-31.