ATHENS, Ohio – The big man came up with big numbers, but the little man made the biggest difference.

Monday, March 04, 2002

ATHENS, Ohio – The big man came up with big numbers, but the little man made the biggest difference.

Brian Netter, a 5-foot-11 senior guard, had 11 points , six assists and six steals to overshadow a 29-point, nine rebound performance by the 6-11 1/2 Chris Skaggs as the Southeastern Panthers beat the South Point Pointers 70-44 Sunday in the Division III district semifinals at Ohio University.

"Netter was the difference. We couldn’t press and he made their zone look better than it was," Pointers coach Mark Lafon said. "He was too quick for us to guard him, but if we played off of him he got the ball inside. He made it tough on us."

South Point struggled from the field the entire game. The Pointers were just 18 of 54 from the floor for 33.3 percent and 2 of 13 from 3-point range.

Shane Holsinger had 14 points, 11 under his season average. Bryan Maggard added 12 points and eight rebounds while Donte Pennington had nine points and seven rebounds.

"We tried to penetrate and try and draw some fouls. We knew we could get shots, but no matter how hard you play or how good of defense you play, eventually you have got to hit some shots," Lafon said.

A 15-footer by Maggard at the 4:18 mark put the Pointers ahead for the last time at 7-6. Skaggs had a layup and Pennington’s foul shot tied the game. Skaggs had another layup and Pennington answered with his own layup with one minute left and it was 10-10 at the end of the quarter.

Netter scored five straight points to open the second quarter to give Southeastern the lead for good.

South Point was within 17-14 on two foul shots by Maggard before the Panthers went up 28-22 at the half.

The Pointers were within three points on three occasions the third quarter and trailed 37-34 on a free throw by Holsinger with 1:59 left in the third quarter. Ron Detillion’s 3-pointer with four seconds left put Southeastern ahead 40-33 at the end of the quarter.

Southeastern outscored the Pointers 17-4 to start the fourth quarter. Holsinger made two foul shots at the 5:23 mark and it was 51-37. But the Pointers did not score again until Pennington hit a layup with 1:28 to play which left South Point behind 63-39.

Skaggs had 11 of his points the fourth quarter and the Panthers made 8 of 18 from the line as they outscored the Pointers 30-11.

"This was a pretty competitive game until the fourth quarter," Lafon said. "We had Maggard lay on (Skaggs) the whole game. He was so outsized it just got to him. The first half he kept Skaggs off the blocks. He just wore down."

The Pointers finished the season 13-9.

"It was fun being here. It was a nice accomplishment for these kids, especially the seniors," Lafon said.

In the second game, North Adams outlasted Alexander 75-73. Southeastern plays North Adams at 6:15 p.m. Saturday.

South Point 10 12 11 11 – 44

Southeastern 10 18 12 30 – 70

SOUTH POINT (13-9): Donte Pennington 4-6 (0-1) 1-2 9, Justin Eaches 1-3 (0-2) 0-0 2, Adam Workman 1- (1-4) 0-0 3, Shane Holsinger 5-15 (1-4) 3-4 14, Bryan Maggard 5-12 (0-0) 2-2 12, Seth Craft 1-8 (0-1) 0-0 2, Jonathan Green 0-1 (0-1) 0-0 0, Saul Thompson 1-2 (0-0) 0-0 2. Totals: 18-54 (2-13) 6-8 44. Fouls: 21. Fouled out: Eaches (5:39 4th), Holsinger (2:42 4th). Rebounds: 7-24=31 (Maggard 8, Pennington 7, Holsinger 5, Eaches 4). Team/deadball rebounds: 5. Assists: 7 (Holsinger 2). Steals 4 (Workman 2). Turnovers: 21. FG% – 33.3. FT% – 75. 3pt% – 15.4.

SOUTHEASTERN (21-1): Brian Netter 3-6 (0-1) 5-8 11, Trustan Detty 2-12 (1-5) 2-5 7, Chris Netral 0-2 (0-0) 0-0 0, Dave McGarvey 3-9 (0-3) 1-2 7, Chris Skaggs 14-19 (0-0) 1-4 29, Ron Detillion 2-7 (1-3) 2-4 7, Delvin Stewart 0-2 (0-1) 0-0 0, Tony Young 2-2 (0-0) 0-0 4, Rob Detty 2-3 (0-0) 1-1 5, Justin Murray 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, Don Detillion 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, Jeremy Swanson 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0. Totals: 28-62 (2-13) 12-24 70. Fouls: 12. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 10-24=34 (Skaggs 9, McGarvey 6, T. Detty 6, R. Detillion 4). Team/deadball rebounds: 4. Assists: 14 (Netter 6, McGarvey 3). Steals: 8 (Netter 6). Turnovers: 11. FG% – 45.2. FT% – 50. 3pt% – 15.4.

OFFICIALS: Bill Cook, Kevin Schwartzel, Rob Nichols.