PORTSMOUTH - No excuses.

Green Bobcats coach Kevin Lewis offered no excuses following a 66-54 loss to the Portsmouth Clay Panthers Tuesday in a Southern Ohio Conference game.

"We just got beat. They were better than us tonight," Lewis said.

"On this given night, Clay just took it to us. We have to find some answers. We got hurt on the boards. We turned the ball over too many times. We need to find some more balanced scoring. We need some other people to step up and try to make some plays."

Cam Thurman scored 23 points and Eric Thacker 21 to lead Clay.

Green had three players in double figures led by Aaron Patten with 23 points. Timmy Yarnell and Derek Lewis scored 14 points each. Adam Sparks had six rebounds.

But offense wasn't the problem. Lewis was upset with the defensive effort.

"The second half we did a adequate job defensively," Lewis said. "The first half we weren't where we wanted to be. We just have to get back in the gym and try to get better. Obviously, we have a lot to work on."

Thacker scored six points as Clay took a 19-12 lead in the first quarter. Patten and Yarnell got five points each.

The Panthers went ahead 42-33 at the half as Thacker got nine more points in the second quarter. Derek Lewis knocked down 12 of Green's 21 points in the quarter.

The Bobcats tied the game in the third quarter behind seven points by Patten, but Clay finished the quarter strong to take a 54-44 lead.

Thurman scored eight points in the fourth quarter to offset seven points by Patten as Green fell to 1-1 overall and in the SOC.

Green plays West Carter at 2 p.m. Saturday in the Greenup County Pepsi Shootout.

Green12211110-54

Ports. Clay19231212-66

GREEN (1-1, 1-1):

Aaron Patten 6 3 2-2 23, Timmy Yarnell 5 1 1-1 14, Jason Bester 0 0 0-0 0, Derek Lewis 2 1 7-8 14, Adam Sparks 0 0 0-1 0, Brian Ramey 0 0 0-0 0, Ryan Klaiber 0 0 0-0 0, Ryan Bloomfield 0 0 2-2 2, Kenny Elrod 0 0 1-2 1. Totals: 18-42

(5) 13-16

54. Fouls: 21. Fouled out: Yarnell. Rebounds: 22 (Sparks 6). Turnovers: 15.

PORTSMOUTH CLAY:

Eric Thacker 8 0 5-7 21, Cam Thurman 8 0 7-7 23, Chris Robinson 0 1 0-2 3, Matt Brown 3 0 0-0 6, Chris Bihl 1 0 0-2 2, Ross France 2 1 0-0 7, Nate Warnick 2 0 0-0

4. Totals: 24

2

12-18

66. Fouls: 19. Fouled out: None.