High School Basketball | Second-quarter scoring drought does in Sebring at Jackson-Milton

NORTH JACKSON — After being shut out in the second quarter of Tuesday's 51-31 loss to Jackson-Milton, the Sebring High School boys basketball team needed inspiration.

Dustin Black, Andrew Latham and Noah Frederich ignited a spark. It took Black about 10 seconds to snap the Trojans' scoring drought, connecting from underneath to start the third quarter.

Black scored two more baskets in the quarter while Fredrick and his twin brother, Elijah, each made one as the Trojans outscored the Bluejays 14-11 to reduce Jackson-Milton's lead to 34-18.

“The inspiration was that we came out really slow,” Black said. “We needed to come out in that first four minutes [of the second half] and turn it into a game.

“Or at least try to.”

Black said the second half was a lot more interesting.

“It felt pretty good when you are in the flow of things,” Black said. “Making shots, it felt pretty good.”

Asked if it was fun engaging in more of a run-and-gun quarter, Noah Frederick said not exactly.

“I personally didn't have any fun just because we were down by so much,” said Frederick, referring to the 23-4 halftime deficit. “We just started off so slow and that just killed us.

“It's hard trying to climb back in when you are down so much.”

Seeking their first win since mid-December, the Trojans (3-10, 0-8 Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference Gray Tier) were unable to sustain their scoring edge in the final frame.

Black led the Trojans with eight points and six rebounds. Latham and Kiyan Welty each scored six.

“We just started executing plays better,” Noah Frederick said. “They were pressing us, but we started beating it a little bit [more]. We were trying to play aggressive since we we were down so much.”

Ryan Romigh led the Bluejays (6-8, 4-5) with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Aiden Stanke contributed 13 points while Logan Sokol scored nine points and made six steals and five rebounds.

Unlike his players who enjoyed their second straight snow day, Trojans coach Lee Knepp taught Tuesday at Uniontown Lake then met his team for a shootaround before getting on the bus. Monday, the Trojans did not practice because of hazardous road conditions.

Knepp said the Trojans had chances early when they fell behind 10-4 after eight minutes

“Early on, we were unable to hit those open shots,” Knepp said. “We had some open-look opportunities but unfortunately were unable to knock them [down].

“We played with a little bit more energy, we got after it defensively,” Knepp said of the third-quarter surge.

He said full-court pressure “created some opportunities offensively. We were able to force a couple of turnovers with some deflections, get a little bit of momentum. I was proud of that effort there.”

In the girls varsity game that preceded the boys game, Jackson-Milton defeated Sebring, 64-20.

Kylie Wilson and Ava Darney led the Bluejays (9-5, 7-2) with 21 and 19 points, respectively.

Devyn Reggi led the Trojans with seven points.

Sebring coach Sam Mathis said his players weren't affected by the two-day snow break, saying varsity players for the past two years have dealt with schedule interruptions created by COVID-19 and can handle just about any challenge an unusual schedule presents.

This article originally appeared on The Alliance Review: Sebring falls to Jackson-Milton in Mahoning Valley boys basketball