01/16/2025
BY JACK BULLOCK
COBDEN - For the Cobden Appleknockers it was an impressive win on Thursday night as Coach Karl Sweitzer and his club took control of the game in the second quarter and didn't look back in a 60-31 win over Shawnee.

The outcome wasn't really in doubt by the end of the first few minutes as the Appleknockers used a pair of first half scoring runs to take a 34-8 lead at intermission.

A 9-0 run in the first quarter and a 15-2 sprint to close the second quarter were both fueled by Cobden's defensive pressure the forced 17-first half turnovers by the Redskins.

Coach Trey Pender saw his young Shawnee club drop to 0-5 in the South Egyptian Conference and just 1-12 overall after the loss.

Cobden improved to 3-1 in the SEC and evened their overall mark to 8-8.

Nine different Cobden players scored in the romp, with 19-points coming from junior guard Matthew Howell to lead all scorers.

Howell knocked down three of the six Cobden 3-pointers in leading the offensive attack.

Junior guard James Eagle finished with 12-points for the Appleknockers and senior Thomas Coleman added eight-points.

Six-three sophomore Kyler Jewell was the offensive bright spot for Shawnee, netting 15-points, but he was held to just four-points in the first half, half of the team total in the first two quarters.

Ten of the team's turnovers were bunched up in the first quarter as the Appleknockers took control.

Howell hit two of his 3-pointers in the first quarter and junior Kingston Kuhn scored four of his seven-points in the opening minutes.

The two Howell bombs came on consecutive possessions and a rebound basket by Kuhn forced a Shawnee timeout at 12-2 Cobden.

A free throw by Coleman and an inside score by the 6-2 senior closed the frame at 15-2 Cobden.

A 3-pointer by junior Gabe Haynes started the second quarter for the Appleknockers and Eagle produced three-straight baskets off of fast breaks as the lead ballooned to 25-6 with with 2:58 left in the first half.

“We didn't hustle back on defense tonight and I think that gets back to us being a young team and we just have to find the passion and I think that comes from maturity. We're young and we don't have a lot of varsity experience,” said Coach Pender.

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Senior Noah Mayberry scored four points in the game for Shawnee, all in the first half and he added the final basket for the Redskins before intermission.

Then Cobden scored the final eight-points of the half with three of the four baskets coming in transition.

Howell added three of the scores, with his final points of the half coming just before the buzzer as the Appleknockers led 34-8 at the break.

“It helps when they (shots) go in early. Matthew (Howell) hit a couple of three's early in the first quarter and that just makes the rim look bigger for everybody when outside shots are going in,” said Coach Sweitzer. “We took a lot of really good shots.”

Shawnee's best quarter of the game came in the third as they managed to get some offense going.

Jewell hit his only 3-pointer of the contest and teammates junior Gabe Ellet, freshman Brody Maeser and Conner Wilson each added baskets for Shawnee.

Howell's final score came on an assist from reserve senior Kohen Moore for a lay in as Cobden led 54-20 at the end of the third quarter.

The contest was played with a continuous clock mercy rule in the final eight minutes as Cobden picked up a key conference home victory.

Shawnee did play a much better second half, as they finished with 20-turnovers with just three coming in the final 16-minutes.

The Redskins hit just 13-of-49 shots overall and 1-of-10 from the arc.

Cobden cashed in 24-of-54 shots from the floor, 6-of-20 from the 3-point line in the win.

The Appleknockers held a 39-26 rebounding edge and held Shawnee to just three-offensive rebounds in the first three quarters of the contest.

Shawnee hosts Century on Saturday before both the Redskins and Cobden play at the Zeigler-Royalton Mid-Winter Tournament starting on Monday.

“We forced some turnovers and got some run outs and that helped us build momentum. We were able to score in bunches tonight,” said Coach Sweitzer.