CB South pulls away in 3rd quarter to beat Souderton

FRANCONIA >> Tuesday night’s Suburban One Continental Conference matchup featuring Souderton and Central Bucks South did not exactly change the landscape of the conference, but it might have added a bit more clarity to it.

Souderton was able to hang in for the first half as CB South shot poorly and the Indians short bench had not yet become an issue but the Titans were able to pull away in the third quarter to hand Souderton a 56-41 loss.

“Our defense other than the first quarter was not good,” Souderton coach Lynn Carroll said. “CB South shot poorly in the first half, nothing would go in for them in the second quarter, they were getting good looks. With the defense we were playing we were fortunate it was close at halftime and we talked to them at halftime that it’s got to get better because they’re not going to keep missing.”

Although Souderton entered the second half trailing by two, it took a very deep three from South’s Jordan Vitelli giving the Titans the lead and perhaps foreshadowing what was to come in the second half. It was the third quarter that killed the Indians as South opened the quarter with a 9-0 run and would go on to win the quarter 24-8.

Perhaps a factor in the third quarter collapse from the Indians was due to the discrepancy in depth. The Titans used 10 players in its rotation and the Indians only used seven as it appeared Souderton tired a bit as the game wore on.

“The little things got worse,” Carroll said. “We weren’t boxing out as well, we weren’t helping as much, and our on the ball defense got worse.”

Offensively, the Indians had to work for every basket it got. They were able to work South into early foul trouble but could not exploit it. And when Souderton did go to the line, its the free throw shooting was subpar.

“We have been getting better with our offensive execution and decision making and I (think) we’re continuing to progress there,” Carroll said.

With Souderton at 2-3 in the SOL Continental, it’s now looking at an uphill climb as North Penn, the team that sits atop the conference right now is up next on the docket for the Indians Friday.

“We don’t really think about that stuff, we want to win every game we play,” Carroll said. “The last few practices it’s just been about CB South and the next few will be just about North Penn and we kind of keep it small picture.”