BEREA — The Patriots were having extreme issues with Madison Southern early in the Berea Invitational Tournament’s title game on Saturday.

The Eagles’ defense caused several Model Laboratory turnovers, allowing them to score the first eight points of the game and then roll to a 66-41 win in Berea.

The Eagles (6-1) beat their four opponents in the BIT by a combined score of 237-109, including a 76-64 hard-fought win earlier Saturday over Elliott County.

“Playing four games in three days, I’m proud of some of the guys coming off the bench,” Southern coach Shane Buttry said. “They really developed this week. We had a heck of a scrap with Elliott County. It was a tough game. We won in double-digits, but it was close. I was hoping we would have the legs to come back and play hard, and we did.”

The Patriots (5-2) committed 22 turnovers in the loss. Model did not get within 10 points after falling behind, 19-7, after the first quarter.

“Preparation was the biggest thing. We weren’t able to prepare adequately for that trap,” Model coach Wes Scarberry said. “Every turnover we have is an easy score for them and the score reflected that. It’s hard when you don’t have time to prepare for a team with that much talent and that skilled of a pressure defense. We hadn’t seen them run their half-court trap before.”

Although Matt Witt tried his best to keep the Patriots in contention — Witt hit the first two Patriot field goals and finished with a team-high 13 points — the Patriots just couldn’t find many answers for the Eagles defense.

“Matt’s a warrior. He can do so many things for us — rebound, he shoots the ball very well,” Scarberry said. “I wish all five guys had as much heart as Matt does. He comes ready to play every game and he showed up tonight, knocked down shots tonight, played defense. I can’t say enough good things about Matt Witt.”

Rico Brown’s three-pointer late in the second quarter gave the Eagles a 36-15 lead at halftime. Southern’s two big men — Jimmy Freel and Joey Wallace — were clutch, especially on the boards. Freel finished with eight points and a team-high 14 rebounds, while Wallace had 14 points, six boards and four blocks.

“We had a height advantage inside,” Buttry said. “We have two good guys who can rebound and if we can rebound, we can play with a lot of people. We owned the boards and that helped us in transition with some easy buckets. Our defense is what’s going to carry us through the year.”

Carrington Roberts finished with a game-high 15 points, Trent Broughton added 10 points and Brown chipped in five. Phillip Acres and Aaron Ponder both scored four points and A.J. Jeck, Chad Wheaton and Chris Roberts had two points each. The Eagles were 11-of-19 from the free-throw line.

Dennis Smith scored eight points for Model, A.J. Hammons added six and Wayne Morris scored four. Adam Horvath, Tyler Reeder and Anders Kipp each had three points and Hunter Conner added a point.

In the final round-robin game of the tournament, Model defeated Monticello, 65-43, on Saturday afternoon.

Model will return to action Tuesday against Buckhorn. Game time is set for 7:30 p.m. in Richmond. Southern will face off against Garrard County Tuesday at 6 p.m. in Lancaster.



Berea tops Estill

The Pirates advanced to the third-place game of the Berea Invitational Saturday with a 42-38 win over Estill County, but had to settle for fourth place after falling to Elliott County, 83-60.

Against the Engineers, the Pirates (4-3) had a slim, 11-10 lead after the first quarter and a 26-20 advantage at halftime. The game was tied at the end of the third quarter, but Berea outscored the Engineers, 11-8, in the final period to take the win.

Nate Arvin scored 17 points off of 6-of-11 shooting and pulled down seven boards for the Pirates. Nathan Vaughn scored eight points, Jon Shearer scored five points and added a game-high 10 rebounds and Jeremy Hamilton added four points. Luke Ambrose, Chase Riddle, Ben Miller and Justin Hubbard all added two points apiece.

However, it was a different story against Elliott County. Timmy Knipp had a double-double effort of 19 points, 10 rebounds and Craig Faulkner scored 21 points as the Lions had a 24-6 advantage after the first period and a 43-28 lead at halftime.

Vaughn had 21 points, including 5-of-9 from three-point range and Arvin added 13 points and six boards. Jeremy Hamilton had three points and six rebounds, Luke Ambrose had four points and six rebounds and Colby Lilly added nine points and four offensive rebounds. Jon Shearer and Ben Miller each scored three points, Chase Riddle added two and Barry Scudder-Davis and Jon Hubbard had a point each.

Berea will play Tuesday on the road at Danville. Game time is set for 7:30 p.m.