The Adena Warriors showed why they are going to be one of the favorites for the SVC boys basketball title chase this season with a 68-37 win at Southeastern to open conference play.
But the Warriors had a "leg-up" going into the game as the Panthers have six varsity players in quarantine due to COVID-19 contact tracing, forcing Southeastern to start three freshmen.
Adena took full advantage jumping to leads of 14-0, 20-2 and 34-4. It was 42-11 at halftime, but the Panthers showed more steady play in the third quarter, although still trailing by a margin of 57-24 after three points before the 68-37 final.
The Warriors had four players in double figures, led by Logan Bennett's 17 points, including his 1,000th career point. Adena also had 10 points each from Preston Sykes, Jarrett Garrison and Dillon McDonald. Branam Cheesebrew almost had double digits, firing in three treys for 9 points. Andrew Vickers added 4 and 3 points each for Nate Throckmorton and Jacob Shipley. Throckmorton also had 7 steals and Garrison 6.
Southeastern had two men in double figures, led by Derek Wheeler's 14 markers and 10 from freshman Ashton Allman, who also had 6 rebounds and two blocked shots. Aiden Estep scored 5, Connor Smith 4 and 2 from Wesley Collins.
Adena shot a sizzling 63% from the field at 27/43 including 8/22 from the arc. They added 6/8 from the foul line. The Warriors turned the ball over 9 times, and lost the rebounding battle 20-18.
Southeastern shot 16/37 for 43%- including 2/8 from the arc and added 3/4 at the charity stripe. The Panthers committed 24 turnovers.
Adena improves to (1-0/3-1) and Southeastern falls to (0-1/1-1).
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