The Bethel Bees improve to 6-2 on the season with a blowout win over Emmanuel Christian Academy Tuesday.
Bees head coach Brett Kopp praises his team on their excellent effort.
“We played hard. Last Tuesday we didn’t play as hard, I thought we’d challenge them a little and they played hard on both ends of the floor and they were focused and finished around the rim. That’s been our big problem the last couple of games. I’m proud at how hard they played. This is a team we saw the first five games of the year, so it’s good to get back on the winning track.”
In the first half, the Bees took control of the game early and never let the Lions have a chance.
The Bees got stellar play from sophomore guard Caleb South who played excellent on both sides of the ball.
South scored 17 points alone in the first half.
With the score 17-15, the Lions had a chance to even up the game and potentially take the lead but with Bees adding on points, the Lions couldn’t make a comeback.
In addition, the Bees senior big man Evan Hawthorn cleaned up on rebounds, helping the Bees put up decent lead going into halftime.
The score would favor the Bees, 31-20.
After halftime, the Bees came out on fire in the second half.
Coach Kopp talked about his team being able to grab a huge lead.
“A lot of has to do with experience. I’ve got five guys that started a least one game last year and some of them are sophomores and junior and they’re going to come back for another year. They’ve been through those battles and they weren’t ready to go through another practice with a loss.”
The Bees score 22 points in the third quarter giving them a 22 point lead going into the fourth.
Going into the fourth quarter, the Bees continued to dominate on both sides of the court.
Late in the fourth quarter, the Bees get a questionable offensive charging called on Caleb South as he was driving to the basketball.
Coach Kopp spoke on the call.
“They (referees) make decisions from time to time I just argued it. It is what is.”
That call didn’t faze the Bees as they go on to win big 66-48.
Caleb South finished with a game-high 22 points, along with Evan Hawthorn’s 12 points and Tyler Terry finishing with nine points.
Bethel hosted Troy Christian Monday night, then travels to Tri County North on Friday and Xenia Christian on Saturday.
