Hamilton Southeastern scored a big win in its regular-season finale, holding off a late comeback by Marion for an 87-84 victory Wednesday at the Giants’ Bill Green Arena.
The Royals were in control during the first half, leading 25-18 after one quarter. Southeastern expanded its lead to 40-22 during the second quarter, and went into halftime with a 45-30 advantage. Marion began working its way back into the game in the second half, cutting HSE’s lead to 64-53 after three periods, then pouring in 31 points in the fourth. But the Royals hung on for the win.
Five Southeastern players reached double figures. Vinny Buccilla led the way with 20 points, followed by John McCall with 17. Sam Jacobs added 15 points, Alex Totton made three 3-pointers on his way to 11 points and Loudon Sundling added 10 points. Jalen Blackman scored 48 points for the Giants.
The Royals distributed the ball extremely well, with 27 assists on their 30 field goals. Stutz dished out 13 assists, while Buccilla and McCall both handed out four assists. Buccilla and McCall each pulled four rebounds.
Southeastern finished the regular season 11-10 and will play Fishers Tuesday in the first game of Sectional 8 at Carmel.
HAMILTON SOUTHEASTERN 87, MARION 84
Southeastern FG FT TP PF
Jason Stutz 3-5 0-2 8 1
Alex Totton 4-7 0-0 11 4
Vinny Buccilla 5-8 8-11 20 4
Sam Jacobs 6-11 1-2 15 3
John McCall 8-13 1-2 17 1
Loudon Sundling 2-5 5-6 10 5
Isaac Bowman 2-5 0-0 6 0
Mohammed Awad 0-1 0-0 0 1
Deion Miles 0-0 0-0 0 0
Totals 30-55 15-23 87 19
Score by Quarters
Southeastern 25 20 19 23 – 87
Marion 18 12 23 31 – 84
Southeastern 3-point shooting (12-20) Totton 3-4, Jacobs 2-5, Buccilla 2-4, Stutz 2-3, Bowman 2-3, Sundling 1-1.
Southeastern rebounds (24) Buccilla 4, McCall 4, Totton 3, Sundling 2, Stutz 2, Bowman 2, team 7.