Augusta balanced in win over Robertson

AUGUSTA — With five double players in double figures, four the previous night, there’s different ways Augusta can beat an opponent on any given night.

With the balanced scoring they present, it’s going to make them a tough out as the season rolls along.

The Panthers got at least 10 points from five different players Tuesday night in a 83-66 victory over Robertson County to jump out to a 2-0 start to the season.

“Having balance and a bunch of guys that can put the ball in the basket definitely helps. Makes my job easier when they can score it like they can,” Panthers coach Jason Hinson said. “We’ve been working on the defense, if we can get that where it needs to be and know we can score, just have to get high percentage shots.”

While the offensive balance was nice, Augusta’s main objective was stopping Justin Becker on the other end. The reigning back-to-back 10th Region Player of the Year went for 37 points and 18 rebounds, but it sure didn’t come easy, a good bit of those points coming off second chance points.

“He had a heck of a night, didn’t really know what we were going to do. Were we going to double him? Double some of the inexperienced guys to see if they’d make the right decision? Haven’t really seen them on film and that made me nervous. Justin is an outstanding player, knew we had to prepare for him as much as we could and thought we did a good job on him tonight,” Hinson said. “That’s the first time we had to play Justin without what he’s used to playing with.”

After a tightly played first quarter for the majority, Augusta ended on a 7-0 run to take a 19-13 lead into the second.

That 7-0 run quickly turned into a 16-0 run and Augusta starting to cruise with a 28-13 edge. LJ Conner’s 10 points off the bench during the run came up big.

“He just brings instant energy for us off the bench. Great defender, guy that can score the ball. He’s still fitting in with us and working that out and I just tell him to go play basketball. He’ll figure it out and I think he did tonight. Makes us even more hard to guard,” Hinson said.

Becker had to will his team into the half, scoring 13 of the 14 Black Devil points in the second quarter, consecutive 3-pointers getting them within nine at 34-25 before another strong Augusta spurt, closing out the half on a 7-2 run to take a 41-27 lead into the break.

Coming into the season the big question mark for the Black Devils was who was going to be able to complement Becker. At times that was a struggle Tuesday, his supporting cast scoring 29 points on the evening led by Joshua Pilosky with 11, the only other starter on the night to see significant varsity minutes in prior seasons. All of Pilosky’s points came in the second half, getting hot from three in the third after a slow start.

“I feel like from here on out we have to get inside more to help create the outside game. We settled for some outside shots that we need to get to the rim on. Credit to Augusta’s defense on that, they were rushing us a little bit, pushed us outside. Augusta is a tough place to get a win and any Jason Hinson team you play is going to be well coached and prepared,” Black Devils coach Aaron Massey said.

Pilosky’s triple barrage in the third got the Black Devils within striking distance, but Augusta continued to pile up the points with a 26-point third quarter to take a 67-45 lead into the fourth.

“I told the guys Augusta was going to be a team that plays in spurts. They’re going to knock down six, eight, 10 straight points. We had to weather that and expect it to happen three or four times. It did, we answered a couple times but there were a couple of times we just couldn’t answer it,” Massey said.

The lead plummeted to as large as 28 in the fourth at 79-51, Augusta turning to its bench in the closing minutes as the Black Devils outscored them 15-4 to end the game.

Both teams get a night off before getting back after it on Thursday. Robertson County goes on the road to play at Paris.

“We just played a team that’s going to win 20-plus games this year. It’s going to be tough no matter what down here. You come down here to the Panthers Den it’s going to be tough no matter what. This game will only help get us better when it matters come February,” Massey said.

Augusta will host Lewis County for their third of just 10 home games this season.

Riley Mastin pulled down 17 rebounds for Augusta to go with his team-high 19 points.

“He’s gotten a lot more aggressive. Slimmed down, attacking the rim, rebounding to get it out on the break. Takes a lot of pressure of Kason,” Hinson said.

After Conner’s 18 points off the bench, Kason Hinson went for 13, Conner Snapp and Chase Archibald with 10.

PANTHERS 83, BLACK DEVILS 66

ROBERTSON COUNTY — 13-14-18-21 — 66

AUGUSTA — 19-22-26-16 — 83

Scoring

ROBERTSON (66) — Becker 37, Pilosky 11, Gay 6, Earlywine 6, Boyd 4, Bussell 2

AUGUSTA (83) — Mastin 19, Conner 18, Kason Hinson 13, Snapp 10, Archibald 10, Kylan Hinson 6, Kelsch 4, Bach 3

Game Stats

Rebounds: Robertson 39 (Becker 18), Augusta 43 (Mastin 17)

3-Pointers Made: Robertson 10, Augusta 7

Free Throws: Robertson 12/22, Augusta 14/22

Turnovers: Robertson 12, Augusta 10

Personal Fouls: Robertson 17, Augusta 15

Records: Robertson County 0-1, Augusta 2-0