RANDY HISNER
WZBD.com
Sophomore sharpshooter Daniel Selking scored 40 points and teammate Cameron Summers added 23 to lead the Bellmont Braves to a 79-56 win over county rival Adams Central Friday at the Hangar.
The duo got down to business early, scoring the first 16 points of the game (Selking nine, Summers seven) before Adams Central’s Braylend Reber finally got the Jets (2-5) on the board with two free throws at the 2:36 mark. Bellmont’s Jack Schultz responded with a three-pointer 10 seconds later, and the Braves (4-5) had their biggest lead of the quarter at 19-2.
Video highlights courtesy of Heath Weber and RunItBack Studios.
Then the Jets showed some resilience by going on a 6-2 mini-run—Reber hitting a free throw and a layup, Alex Alana adding a three-pointer—to close the gap to 21-8 at the first stop.
Turns out that Selking and Summers were just getting warmed up. Selking added 13 points in the second quarter, and Summers scored nine. They ended the half with a combined 40 points. The Braves took a 43-26 lead into the locker room.
The Jets’ offense had perked up in the second quarter, scoring 18 points, more than double their opening quarter output. Mavrick Becher led the way with eight points on two three-pointers and a 12-foot jumper. Reber and Lawson Deathe each contributed five.
Bellmont coach Payton Selking loved what Selking and Summers did in the half, but he was quick to laud the whole team’s effort. “Yeah, those guys do a great job playing off each other,” he said. “Dan hit some shots. Cam hit some shots. After Cam fell away from one finish, I thought he did a great job of finishing strong inside when he got those looks. But that was a team effort. Cam and Dan might have had 40 in the 1st half, but five of us had to defend down here, and I thought we did a great job of that.”
Selking scored 12 in the third quarter to head into the final frame with 36, but with the game well in hand—the Braves up 63-40—Coach Selking gave him time to score only four more before working several subs into the game.
He scored his 40 points from all over, hitting four threes, several acrobatic drives (including a pair of old-fashioned three-point plays), a spinning 12-foot jumper, and all four of his free throws.
Coach Selking liked the defensive job his big men did on the Jets’ leading scorer, Braylend Reber. Even though Reber ended up with a team-high 23 points, the Braves held him to 12 in the first three quarters. “I thought Beau (Baker) and Cam did a great job on him,” he said. “I thought Jack did a good job when he was in the middle of our 1-3-1.”
“Braylend’s a great player, Selking continued. “He does an unbelievable job of attacking space and being strong and finishing off two feet around the rim and doing a good job of getting to the free throw line. He hit some shots there in the fourth quarter, which we have to live with because he’s good off the dribble, but I thought our guys did a great job on him all night.”
Coach Selking was also happy to put 6-5 senior Beau Baker back into the starting lineup after he had missed most of the early season as he recovered from surgery. “He played some Monday and Tuesday down at Delta,” Selking noted, “but to get him back in the starting lineup and get a true five in there and get Cam back to where he’s most comfortable at the three or the four—yeah, it’s a big lift for us.” Baker scored four points and clearly strengthened the Braves’ interior defense.
Bellmont scorers: Selking 40; Cameron Summers 23; Schultz 7; Beau Baker 4; Luke Summers and Easton Baker 2; Jake Hackman 1.
Adams Central scorers: Reber 23; Becher 8; Alana 5; Kolten Combs and Drew Johnson 3; Andy Geels and Mason Manley 2.
Shooting stats:
Bellmont: 19-30 on twos (63%); 9-20 on threes (45%); 14-16 on free throws (88%).
Adams Central: 10-20 on twos (50%); 10-23 on threes (43%); 6-10 on free throws (60%).
Turnovers: Bellmont 5, Adams Central 15.
Rebounds: Bellmont—27 defensive, 4 offensive. Adams Central—24 defensive, 11 offensive.
Bellmont won the JV game, 61-23. Malachi Lavine led the Braves with 26 points. Luke Summers had 13. Lane Maller led the Jets with six.
Bellmont made it a sweep by winning the freshman game, 44-25.
Bellmont will host Heritage Tuesday, January 6. Adams Central travels to Parkway on Saturday, January 3.
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