A sea of red and blue filled the seats at the historic Southport Fieldhouse last night, Nov. 26, as the SHS boys basketball team hosted township rival Perry Meridian for the season opener. 
The Cards started off on a hot streak by going on a 12-0 run to begin the game. SHS held Perry Meridian to only 22 in the first two quarters and were leading 43-22 going into halftime.
They continued to score in the second half and ended up scoring another 24 points to Perry’s 21 as the Cards blew by Perry with a final score of 67-43.
The Cards were led in scoring by senior Jack Turner with 15 points, senior Ty’Reese Burnett with 12 points and junior Malakah Bravard, also with 12 points. The team made a total of eight three pointers, with six of those coming from Turner and Bravard.
With Turner shooting from beyond the arc, he said it helped his teammates as Perry’s defense was closely-packed early on in the game.
“I think me shooting for the three really spaced the floor out,” Turner said. “I feel like when we came into the game, they were real compact … but I feel like me shooting on the three really opened out the paint and opened up (to) bring the defenders out and really open(ed) up the driving lane for our drivers and our point guards.”
Even though the Cards got their first win out of the way quickly, they are already looking at what they need to improve on as a team and as players themselves.
“For me, I feel like a skill that I’ve got to work on for us to make a further run is a higher three point percentage,” Burnett said.
As the Cards earned their first win of the season, they also earned new head coach Ben Rhodes his first win at SHS and against Perry.
“It’s fun to be around the guys,” Rhodes said. “I think I’m more happy for them, especially the seniors, (because) this might be the last time they play Perry, so I think it’s really important to them that they did this.”
As the Cards look past Perry and look towards the rest of the season, some of the players believe that they can make a run at a state championship.
“I think this team is all around,” Burnett said. “We got the guys to make a run, we just got to all buy in.”
Rhodes believes the players don’t know what potential they really have and if they work hard during practice, they could make a run for a state title.
“I don’t think they even know what their potential can be,” Rhodes said. “I think our goal is at the end of the season to perform well in the sectional and the state tournament (and) see if we can get one of the first sectionals they’ve had here in quite a while.”
The Cards will have their next game against Mooresville on Saturday, Nov. 30, with their next home game a week later on Saturday, Dec. 7 against Warren Central.
