ELWOOD — The final score on a school’s scoreboard doesn’t always indicate how good or bad a team played. Coaches often tell the whole story with their body language and voice inflection. Such was the case with Madison-Grant’s coach, Chris Smedley as he described his team’s 62-48 victory over the Elwood Panthers.
Elwood (0-4) scored the first three points of the game, but after an 11-2 run by the Argylls (3-1) it appeared M-G might run away with the game. That could be said through the first two-and-a-half quarters.
The Argylls went on an 11-2 run and at the 1:35 mark of the first quarter and were leading 11-5. Jordon Cornelious and Tyler Clevenger combined to score eight of M-G’s 14 first quarter points.
Elwood struggled in the quarter and found the score doubled up (14-7) at the end of one quarter. Joel Moser paced the Panthers with three of their seven points.
The Argylls seemed to be one step ahead of Elwood the whole first half. They hit eight of their 10 shots in the second quarter and appeared to be doing not much of anything wrong.
To make matters worse for the Panthers, Devon Pernod hit his only shot of the game from 3-point range as the buzzer at the half sounded. M-G ran off the court with a 35-22 lead and seemingly in control.
Whatever Elwood coach, Terry Martin said in the halftime locker room must have sparked his team. The second half painted a much different picture for both teams.
Midway through the third quarter and trailing 46-25, the Panthers put together a 7-0 run, which gave them momentum heading into the fourth quarter.
After being outscored 35-22 in the first half, Martin’s team played to within one-point of their counterpart (27-26) in the second half.
Smedley was audibly upset after the game, and he made it known he wasn’t pleased with his team’s effort in the game.
“From an effort standpoint, they (Elwood) beat us tonight,” said a dejected Smedley. “The scoreboard doesn’t really indicate that by the final score, but certainly, I thought (Martin’s) kids played with more passion and desire tonight than ours — for whatever reason.”
One of the bright spots for the Argylls was the play of senior guard, Cornelious, who contributed 24 points and six boards on the night. Martin praised him by saying he might be one of the best guards they will play against all year long.
“He’s going to be one of the best guards we’re going to face this year, because of the way he plays,” said Martin. “He’s like a miniature Larry Bird out there.”
Ande Vogel was the only other Argyll player to reach double figures. He scored 13 points on the night.
The Panthers were paced by the 16 points of Korbin Buster. He was followed by 11 each from Lance Smith and Moser. Moser also added 12 rebounds.
High School Sports
Argylls down Panthers
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