By Chris McCarthy/Editor
Though disappointed in the outcome, Southside High boys basketball coach Chad Holderfield found a silver lining in his team’s 58-31 loss to Chelsea on Monday (Dec. 19) at SHS.
“This gives us a good measure of who we are and what some of the better teams in the state are like,” he said. “I thought that our guys competed the entire ballgame. Even through some runs where we got down a little bit. Chelsea is a very well-coached team that’s had a lot of their guys on varsity for several years, so they know how to play and execute their stuff. They were very athletic and very physical and made things tough on us.”
The Class 6A No. 10 Hornets led from the opening tip to the final buzzer, rolling to an 18-4 lead after one quarter.
The Panthers managed to slow down the pace in the second frame in holding the visitors to nine points, but Tyler Coleman’s buzzer-beating layup sent Southside into halftime down 28-13.
The Hornets built a 20-point cushion midway through the third period en route to a 43-21 advantage after 24 minutes.
Devin Laster led the Panthers with 11 points, followed by Jared D’Eath with eight and Tristan Riggan with seven.
Joseph Lanzi paced Chelsea with 16 points, while Matthew Marquet added 11.
“A game like this one is part of the process,” said Holderfield. “Hopefully we’ll get better from it and come back a stronger and tougher team as we go forward.”
