New Market — It was the same problem that has plagued the Class 3A No. 3 Lebanon Tigers boys basketball team all year.
After building a 26-point halftime lead, the Tigers saw host Southmont cut the lead to 10 in the second half. But Lebanon made enough plays down the stretch to win 86-72 to claim its second straight Sagamore Conference title.
“Winning the conference is important,” Lebanon head coach Albert Hendrix said. “It is a nice honor to win it twice in a row and not lose a game in the conference. But the things that are frustrating for us are – conference is great, but we are out for a much bigger goals. We certainly aren’t going to win sectionals and regionals only playing 16 minutes.”
Lebanon led 5-4 early when it went on a 18-3 run to take a 23-7 lead. After a 3-pointer by Southmont’s Austin Burton, Lebanon went on another run – 19-2 – to take a 30-point lead before settling for a 44-18 halftime lead.
“We have been doing that all year,” Hendrix said. “You can go right down the schedule and see where we were up anywhere to 15 to 30 points in the half. And the end result is you have to play 32 minutes of basketball. And we aren’t getting it done and it is frustrating. We challenged our kids tonight and we will see how they come back the last five games of the season.”
Southmont came back in the second half, going on a 14-2 run to get within 15 at 51-36.
They continued to fight, getting within 67-57 with 4:16 left, but a 3-pointer by Caleb Brannon ended the Mountie run and a 7-0 Lebanon spurt put the game away.
For more of this story, read Saturday's Lebanon Reporter.
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