COLONY — A down-to-the-wire finish is almost routine for coaches Travis Hermreck and Brandt Miller, and Thursday evening was no exception.
The Southern Coffey County Titans came out on top 43-37 against the Crest Lancers, but the final score was no indication of how close the game was at certain points, and, Miller pointed out, it was to be expected.
“Anytime we come to Crest it’s going to be a fight,” Miller said following the game. Both Miller and Crest coach Hermreck attended CHS in the same class and even attended the same college for a time.
“We’ve had the same coaches since kindergarten, there are no secrets,” he said.
The Lancers overcame a 10-0 run in the opening minutes by the Titans to eat away at the deficit, oftentimes coming to within a pair of points from the lead. Although, anytime they threatened to pull ahead key players for SCC responded.
Going into the fourth period, the Lancers had pulled to within four, 29-25, and Landon Stephens hit a jumper to put their deficit at two. Quick responses from Aaron True and Walker Harred pushed the cushion back to seven.
The Lancers weren’t done.
Hunter Frazell nailed two back-to-back treys to bring the Lancers back. But, True stepped up with a three-pointer of his own, a three-point play on another possession and hit two charities to seal the victory.
“Their main guy (True) stepped up and made shots when it mattered, that’s what main guys do,” Hermreck said after the tough loss, obviously disappointed.
“We needed that one, we needed something to go our way,” he said, referring to a string of close losses for the Lancers.
Miller said the games always turn out to be low-scoring brawls between SCC and Crest, and Thursday night was no different.
The Lancers were on their heels from the first, but fought back with a 15-point second quarter to pull within three, 18-15, going into the locker room at half-time.
Miller said his team relied on jumpers and relaxed a bit in the second half, which gave the Lancers an opportunity to stay in the game — he credited the fight the Lancers showed.
“Both teams fought hard,” he said. “We just happened to make more shots. It’s always nice when you’re hitting jumpers.”
Hermreck said he was proud to see the way his team responded to an initial deficit.
“This team has a lot of fight in them,” he said.
True had a commanding offensive presence during the matchup, with 23 points on seven field goals and six free throws, Walker Harred was the only other SCC player near his score with 12 points. Josiah Witteman had four.
Frazell led for the Lancers with 16 points — 9 of which came on treys. Taylor Davis had eight points, and Austin Green had five.
SCC 13-5-11-14—43
Crest 3-12-10-12—37
SCC (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): True 4/3-6-2-23, Newkirk 0-0-4-0, Houston 1-0-0-2, Nelson 2-0-0-4, Witteman 1-0-3-4, Harred 4-4-2-12. TOTALS: 12/3-10-11-43.
Crest (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): Frazell 3/3-1-0-16, Green 2-1-3-5, Stephens 1-2-4-4, Davis 4-0-3-8, Ellis 2-0-2-4, Ramsey 0-0-2-0. TOTALS 12/3-4-14-37.
Titans edge Lancers, 43-37
