In a game that had a combined total of 47 foul shots attempted, the Sutton Mustangs held the edge for shooting at the line. Sutton held off a second-half rally by South Loup (Callaway/Arnold) to gain a 58-48 opening-round win in the C2-8 Sub-District tournament at Cross County High School, Tuesday, Feb. 25. The win moved Sutton to 18-5.
Sutton led by 17 points at halftime, building up the big lead with a 16-8 first-quarter run, and a 15-6 second quarter scoring spree to post a 31-14 halftime lead.
The Bobcats, however, started chipping away at the Mustang lead in the third quarter, outscoring Sutton 20-11 in the period. The Mustangs got their feet back under them late in the fourth quarter to seal the deal with a 16-14 scoring advantage, to claim the 10-point victory.
Sutton was 6-14 from the floor in the first quarter (42.9%), and shot 41.6 percent in the second frame, making five of 12 shots.
Sutton could only get off six total shots in the sluggish third quarter, as the Mustangs were just 2-6 overall in the third (33.3%), but recovered in the fourth period to go 5-12 in the final eight minutes.
As a team, Sutton was 18-45 from the floor (40%) while going 14-20 at the foul line (70%).
In contrast, South Loup was 15-36 from the floor (41.6%) but shot just over 44 percent from the charity stripe, making 12 of 27 of their attempts.
Aidan Jones paced a trio of Mustangs that hit for double figures in scoring, as Jones hit for 17, Harrison Herndon added 11, and Payton Reed, 10.
Adding to the offensive effort were Jacob Huxoll and Keith Kliewer, with seven points each, Max Huxoll added four, and Weston Ohrt, two.
Jones led the rebounding charts with six, while Jacob Huxoll and Reed both had five, and Ohrt, four.
Herndon dished out an impressive seven assists in the win, while three players had one steal each.
Sutton............................................................. 16 15 11 16 -58 South Loup....................................................... 8 6 20 14 -48 Scoring: FG FT Pts Aidan Jones................................................................. 5-12 5-6 17 Harrison Herndon......................................................... 3-14 2-3 11 Payton Reed.................................................................. 3-5 2-2 10 Jacob Huxoll.................................................................. 3-5 1-1 7 Keith Kliewer................................................................ 1-3 4-6 7 Max Huxoll.................................................................... 2-4 0-0 4 Weston Ohrt.................................................................. 1-1 0-2 2 David Fonseca............................................................... 0-1 0-0 0 Sutton Totals:.................................................18-45 14-20 58 South Loup Totals:...........................................15-36 12-27 48 3-pt FG: Herndon 3-14, Reed 2-3, Jones 2-7, Kliewer 1-2, Fonseca 0-1, M. Huxoll 0-1. Total: Sutton: 8-28, SL: 6-18. Rebounds: Jones 6, J. Huxoll 5, Reed 5, Ohrt 4, Herndon 4, M. Huxoll 3, Kliewer 1. Total: Sutton: 28, SL: 15. Assists: Herndon 7, Kliewer 2, Reed 1, Jones 1. Total: Sutton: 11, SL: 12. Steals: Ohrt 1, Kliewer 1, M. Huxoll 1. Total: Sutton: 3, SL: 11.
Aidan Jones dribbles around a South Loup player during the opening-round of the C2-8 sub-district tournament. TORY DUNCAN | CLAY COUNTY NEWS
