In a tightly contested match up Friday night, Southern Local used a strong defensive effort in the final quarter to hold off their rival, Wellsville 51-46.
Luke Griffith led the way for the Indians with 20 points and four steals, while J.J. Napierkowski added 19 points and 12 rebounds.
Josh Carter added 18 points on the night for the Tigers, while Nate Scott had 11.
It was Napierkowski and Griffith who led the offensive scoring attack for the Indians all night, combining for 39 of Southern's 51 points - starting with the opening bucket of the game, when Napierkowski hit a streaking Griffith for a layup less than a minute into the game. Wellsville would take their first lead early, after a Jordan Sloan layup gave them a 7-5 advantage. The first quarter would end with Southern holding an 11-8 lead, and would carry that three-point advantage into the locker room at half time, 23-20.
Wellsville would respond with their highest scoring output of the night in the third, outscoring Southern 17-14 to make it a 37-37 game going into the fourth quarter.
The key moment in the game occurred at the 4:23 mark in the final frame. Griffith scored the go-ahead bucket for the Indians to give them a slight 43-41 lead, followed by a George Whittaker timeout. The Southern defense would get re-energized, holding the Tigers without a score until Scott connected with a three-pointer with just :26 remaining.
The Indians (2-1) will host Leetonia on Tuesday. Wellsville (1-1) will travel to Toronto Saturday night.
