By RICHIE HALL
FISHERS – Before Hamilton Southeastern took to the floor Tuesday night to host Connersville, the Royals coaches talked about the importance of getting off to a good start.
The Southeastern players did just that. The Royals dominated the first half against the Spartans and cruised their way to a 51-35 victory, making HSE 2-0 to begin its current six-game homestand.
“The last couple games, we haven’t gotten off to great starts and sort of dug ourselves in holes,” said Royals coach Brian Satterfield. “It’s not fun always trying to play from behind, and one thing we wanted to try and do was come out here and try to get off to a better start.”
Southeastern couldn’t have asked for a better start on Tuesday. The Royals led 15-2 after the first quarter and ran that advantage to 26-2 midway through the second period. Sam Jacobs scored the game’s first five points, then Stutz made two free throws for a 7-0 lead.
Connersville got on the board with a basket, but the Royals continued to roll, scoring the next 19 points. Vinny Buccilla made two free throws, then both he and John McCall made three-point plays to finish out the first quarter. In the second quarter, Alex Totton got hot, making two 3-pointers on his way to eight points.
The Spartans made an 8-0 run during the second half of the period, but Buccilla finished the quarter with a triple, giving the Royals a 29-10 halftime advantage.
“I thought the energy that we had early on was good, especially at the defensive end,” said Satterfield. “We were able to get our hands on a lot of things and get some deflections and let a little bit of our defense create some offense for us.”
Southeastern had another fine defensive effort in the third quarter, holding Connersville to nine points and leading 41-19 by the end of the period. Jacobs had four points and Buccilla completed another three-point play with 49.3 seconds to go in the quarter.
The Spartans made a 9-0 run that took up the first three minutes of the fourth period, getting with 41-28. But the Royals answered that with their own 8-0 stretch. McCall started the run with a free throw, then Totton made his third 3-pointer of the game. Two free throws from Jacobs and a layin by Loudon Sundling put Southeastern back ahead 49-28, and the Royals were on their way to victory.
Satterfield said Connersville coach Kerry Brown “does a great job with them,” and knew the Spartans weren’t going to stop fighting.
“They had a lot better movement there in the second half, and we had a few lapses and they were able to take advantage of it,” said Satterfield. “I thought we rejuvenated our energy and Totton hit that 3, I thought that was a big shot that sort of helped us finish everything off.”
Jacobs had a solid game for the Royals, with 13 points, five assists and four steals. Totton and Buccilla each added 11 points. Mohammed Awad led the rebounds with five, while Dalton Retzner collected four rebounds.
Southeastern is 7-6 for the season and hosts Noblesville Friday in a Hoosier Crossroads Conference game.
HAMILTON SOUTHEASTERN 51, CONNERSVILLE 35
Southeastern FG FT TP PF
Jason Stutz 1-2 3-4 5 2
Alex Totton 4-6 0-0 11 1
Dalton Retzner 1-1 0-0 2 1
Vinny Buccilla 3-6 4-4 11 0
Sam Jacobs 5-7 3-3 13 2
Mohammed Awad 0-0 1-2 1 4
John McCall 1-2 2-3 4 0
Deion Miles 0-0 2-2 2 0
Loudon Sundling 1-2 0-0 2 2
Isaac Bowman 0-0 0-0 0 0
Tyler Lacy 0-0 0-0 0 0
Josh Jones 0-1 0-2 0 0
Eli Robinson 0-0 0-0 0 1
Totals 16-27 15-20 51 13
Score by Quarters
Connersville 2 8 9 16 – 35
Southeastern 15 14 12 10 – 51
Southeastern 3-point shooting (4-10) Totton 3-5, Buccilla 1-3, Jacobs 0-1, McCall 0-1.
Southeastern rebounds (20) Awad 5, Retzner 4, Totton 2, Buccilla 2, McCall 2, Sundling 1, Jacobs 1, Robinson 1, team 2.