By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
It took a half to get going, but Beebe’s strong outside shooting helped lift the Badgers to a 57-47 nonconference victory over Sylvan Hills at Badger Sports Arena on Tuesday.
Beebe (2-0) gave up a 12-5 lead to the Bears (1-1) early in the first quarter but quickly rallied back and led 16-12 heading into the second, holding Sylvan Hills scoreless for just over eight minutes until Bears junior post player David Johnson scored inside with 3:31 remaining in the half. By that time, though, Beebe had increased its advantage to 24-14 and led by eight at the break, but the third quarter was where the hosts really did their damage.
The Badgers had their biggest lead of the night at 43-23 following a three-point basket by junior point guard Tanner Chapman at the 4:27 mark of the third quarter. Sylvan Hills ate up some of that deficit with a fourth-quarter run, but Beebe controlled the clock late to prevent any comebacks.
“I thought we adjusted defensively to their system,” Badgers coach Ryan Marshall said. “We didn’t have a scouting report on them, and that doesn’t happen very often to go into a ballgame and not know what they’re going to do. And then the third quarter, we finally knocked down some threes. I thought that busted the game open a little bit, so that was good to see some of those guys get in rhythm and knock down some shots.”
The Bears got out to a 7-3 lead when Johnson pulled down an offensive rebound and took it back into the paint for a score at the 5:02 mark of the first quarter and guard Nathan Burchett increased their advantage to 10-5 a minute later when he hit a three pointer. Delsin Parker then drove inside for another SH score with 3:53 left to play in the opening period to give the visitors a 12-5 lead.
Beebe struggled to get off the ground offensively until junior reserve post player Zach Baker checked into the game midway through the first quarter. Baker took an assist from senior guard Than Kersey for an inside basket to make it 12-7, and following a walking call against Sylvan Hills, took another assist, this one from senior Austin Burroughs, to cut the margin to 12-9 by the 3:04 mark.
Baker’s play rubbed off on Burroughs, who hit the front end of a two-shot foul before scoring on a putback to tie the game 12-12 with 2:14 remaining in the first. In fact, Baker and Burroughs together accounted for all of Beebe’s 19-0 run from the 3:53 mark of the first quarter until 3:31 remaining in the half.
“He’s offensive minded,” Marshall said of Baker. “He’s a tough matchup for teams, because he can shoot the ball from the perimeter. He also does a good job inside. He did the same thing against Lakeside. When Baker gets in, it seems like the offensive tempo picks up a lot.”
Burroughs scored inside to give the Badgers a 28-18 lead. Ronnie Hinton fought back for the Bears with a three-point shot before Jake Schlenker scored on a lay-in for Beebe at the 7:08 mark to make it 30-21. Parker charged in from the side of the lane to score two more for Sylvan Hills before the Badgers took off on another run.
Baker scored twice more inside, and Burroughs hit the first in a series of treys for Beebe that gave the Badgers a 37-23 lead with 5:33 remaining in the third.
Kersey followed with a three, then Chapman, to increase the margin to the biggest of the night at 43-23.
Hinton came back for the Bears with an inside basket and a three, while Johnson, the Bears’ 6-5 post player, hit a rare outside shot for three to cut the deficit back to 46-31 with 2:33 remaining in the third.
Burroughs led the Badgers with 24 points while Baker added 20. Kersey finished with eight points for Beebe. For Sylvan Hills, Hinton and DeMonte Davidson each had 13 points while Burchett added six points.
