It was an exciting way to kick off the John Stigall era at Todd County Central High School Monday night. After rallying from a first-half deficit, the Rebels scored the first eleven points of overtime as they opened the season with a solid 67-56 road win at South Warren.
The win marked the Rebels first over the Spartans since December 12, 2017, when Todd County Central won 58-54.
The game gave indication early on that it might come down to the wire. The Spartans jumped out to a quick 6-2 lead. Todd Central battled back to take a 12-8 lead. Back-to-back threes from Will Faulkner and Lincoln Lockhart would put the Spartans up 14-12 at the end of one.
South Warren, behind their zone defense, and some turnover issues from the Rebels made a move to take control of the game early in the second quarter. With Ty Price leading the way, the Spartans scored the first six points of the quarter to go up 20-12. The lead would grow to nine points at 26-17. The Rebels would trim that lead back to 29-23 at the break.
Preston Moore almost single-handedly kept the Rebels within shouting distance in the opening half, scoring 12 of his team-high 17 before the break.
Todd Central came out in the second half with five quick points to cut the margin to 29-28. The Rebels would also finish the quarter strong, getting a steal and a layup, followed by a three-pointer at the horn to go into the fourth quarter holding a 43-38 lead. Sophmore Jamison Glass and senior Amari Andrews went to war down in the paint in the quarter and began to dominate the game inside.
However, the Spartans would not go away quite that easily. South Warren outscored the Rebels 7-2 to open the final quarter to even things up at 45-45 and the battle to the wire was on. After South Warren made a pair of late free throws, Todd Central elected to go for the final shot of the game, but the Rebels were called for an offensive foul in the lane with .1-seconds to go, sending the game to overtime.
The overtime was all Todd Central as Andrews and Glass continued to control the boards and Mareke Johnson did the damage putting the ball in the basket, as the Rebels ran away to the 11-point win.
Preston Moore led four Rebels in double-figures with 17. Amari Andrews finished with 13 points. Jamison Glass and Mareke Johnson added 12 points each.
The Rebels finished the night shooting 24 of 47 from the field, including 7 of 17 from behind the arc. Todd County Central owned the boards, especially in the second half, outrebounding the Spartans 38-22. The Rebels pulled down 16 offensive rebounds on the night. Todd Central also had eight steals in the contest.
One area of concern for the Rebels was turnovers as they registered 19 in the contest.
South Warren was paced by Will Faulkner with 14 points. Brandon Rowe and Lincoln Lockhart added 11 points each.
Todd County Central returns to action Friday night when they host Todd County Central.
Todd County Central 12 11 20 11 13 – 67
South Warren 14 15 9 16 2 – 56
TCCHS (1-0) – Moore 17, Andrews 13, M.Johnson 12, Glass 12, Whitlock 8, Rager 3, A.Johnson 2
SWHS (0-1) – Faulkner 14, Rowe 11, Lockhart 11, Davis 8, Price 6, Goley 4, Linhardt 2
