By JIM WALKER

Tribune Sports Editor

 

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — It doesn’t matter what it looked like, it looked just fine to South Point coach Chris Barnes.

After leading by as many as 22 points, the Pointers watched the Huntington St. Joe Fighting Irish storm back to force overtime before South Point won 73-67 on Tuesday.

“It was an ugly win, but I’ll take it,” said coach Barnes. “The thing that I was proud of was the fact we didn’t quit when things kept going against us. We just kept playing hard.”

Brandon Barnes scored 8 points in the first quarter as South Point (4-4) grabbed an 18-11 lead. The defense held the Irish to 5 points in the second quarter and the lead was 34-16 at the half.

St. Joe cut the deficit to 46-30 after three quarters and then Josh Pierson scored 11 points to lead a 29-point fourth quarter that saw the Irish tie the game at the end of regulation 59-59.

“We ran ever defense we had and couldn’t stop them,” said coach Barnes. “But we were our own worst enemies. We started throwing it all over the place and they got on a roll and we couldn’t stop their momentum.”

The Pointers outscored the Irish 14-8 in the extra period including four free throws by Austin Jeffreys and a combined 8 points by Brandon Boggs and Josh Payne.

Brandon Barnes led the Pointers with 24 points. Boggs had 13 points and 12 rebounds off the bench, Jeffreys scored 14 points and Payne added 12 points and 8 rebounds.

Pierson led the Irish with 27 points. Payne Meadows had 13 and Anthony Rabel 11.

On Monday, Barnes poured in 31 points in three quarters as the Pointers used a big second half to rout Rose Hill Christian 77-46.

Barnes had 11 points in the first quarter as South Point took a 19-6 lead. The lead was 32-19 at the half but Barnes scored 13 in the third quarter and the lead ballooned to 59-27.

Jeffreys added 10 points for the Pointers who did not play any starters in the fourth quarter.

The Pointers host Rock Hill on Friday in an Ohio Valley Conference game.

South Point 18 16 12 13 14 = 73

Hunt. St. Joe 11 5 14 29 8 = 67

SOUTH POINT (4-4): Austin Jeffreys 2 2 4-8 14, John Johnson 1 0 0-0 2, Tre Campbell 1 0 1-2 3, Austin Majher 0 0 0-0 0, Josh Payne 5 0 2-3 12, Brandon Barnes 5 3 5-6 24, Kurt Adams 0 1 2-2 5, Audric Harlow 0 0 0-0 0, Brandon Boggs 60 1-6 13. Totals: 20 6 15-27 73. Fouls: 19. Fouled out: Campbell.

HUNTINGTON ST. JOSEPH (NA): Josh Pierson 5 4 5-8 27, Ian Clark 2 0 0-0 4, Michael Mays 1 2 0-1 8, Laken Brooks 0 0 0-0 0, Anthony Rabel 4 03-611, Paul Dransfeld 2 0 0-0 4, Payne Meadows 1 2 5-6 13. Totals: 15 8 13-21 67. Fouls: 16. Fouled out: Rabel, Dransfeld.

Monday’s Game

South Point 19 13 27 18 = 77

Rose Hill 6 13 8 19 = 46

SOUTH POINT: Austin Jeffreys 5 0 0-0 10, John Johnson 1 0 0-0 2, Tre Campbell 1 0 0-0 2, Austin Majher 1 0 0-0 2, Evan Williams 0 1 0-0 3, Josh Payne 4 0 0-0 8, Brandon Barnes 9 3 4-5 31, Kurt Adams 1 2 0-0 8, Audric Harlow 2 0 0-2 4, Brady Rickard 1 0 0-0 2, Brandon Boggs 2 0 1-2 5. Totals: 27 6 5-9 77. Fouls: 14. Fouled out: None.

ROSE HILL CHRISTIAN: Andrew Wilhoit 8 3 4-6 29, Zach Wilson 2 1 1-1 8, Troy Stafford 1 1 2-4 7, Chris Dudley 0 0 2-4 2, Evan Center 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 11 5 9-15 46. Fouls: 8. Fouled out: None.