COURTLAND
If the Southampton boys basketball team hopes to advance far in the postseason, they’ll have to do something they haven’t done more than once all season — string together at least two-consecutive wins. Even more concerning, though, the Indians dropped 12 of their final 16 games.

Head coach Sharone Bailey said that he expected his team to struggle this season, though, despite having seven seniors in the rotation.

“We are where I thought we would be because we are a young team,” he said, noting that most of his starters are underclassmen. “The win column may not reflect the growth that my team has achieved.”

Most recently, the team dropped the season finale to Surry, 62-50. Sophomore Darius Bell did his best to keep the Indians in the game, scoring a team-high 16 points and pulling down nine rebounds, but a handful of team turnovers in the final minutes sealed their fate.

“We were trailing by 15 at halftime, but we were able to cut it to four early in the fourth quarter,” Bailey said. “We had a bunch of turnovers in a row, and they were able to push the lead back to ten.”

With the loss, Southampton’s final record mirrors that of last season, Bailey’s first at the helm. At 8-14, the Indians must wait for their TriRivers Conference playoff opponent to be revealed today. The win or go home playoff begins on Tuesday evening.

“I really enjoyed coaching my guys this year, and we learned a lot together,” Bailey said. “I’m looking forward to having a great playoff run.”