Boys Basketball: Skyline holds off Bedford with a 49-42 victory

Not surprising that the Kicking Mules would fight back – but it was too little too late against Skyline in a boys’ basketball SEC Red Division game on Tuesday night at Skyline. The Eagles took a 41-26 lead into the fourth quarter but Bedford pulled within seven points before running out of time as Skyline secured a 49-42 victory.

The Eagles had balanced scoring – seven players scored five or more points – and contributions from players up and down the roster.

Will Gardner led the way with team highs in both points (12) and rebounds (9).

Ben Stille had 9 points and 5 rebounds while Sam Koelling (8 rebounds, 3 assists) and Lucas Lynch each finished with 6 points. Ish Abdul Aziz (8 rebounds), Kaleb Schlecht (5 rebounds) and James Harrison Jr. (5 rebounds) all scored five for the Eagles.

Both teams played hard defensively in the first quarter and both teams had trouble finding easy baskets. Bedford played a packed in 1-3-1 and Skyline played man to man. Bedford led 8-7 after one quarter.

In the second quarter, Skyline started to convert more in the paint and in transition on shots that were not falling in the first quarter. They also continued to play tough defense and was able to go into halftime with a 24-17 lead.

The third quarter was an extension of the second quarter where Skyline outscored Bedford 17-9 to take a 41-26 lead into the final period.

Bedford would not back down and cranked up the full-court pressure working to trap and use up fouls. The visitors also started making some three-point shots and fought back to get the deficit under double digits.

Bedford would cut the lead to seven, but that’s as close as it got.

It never gets easy in the SEC Red. The Eagles head to Dexter on Friday to take on a strong Dreadnaughts team.