»RELATED: Late 3-pointer lifts Centerville over Springfield
Senior Michael Severt scored 42 points in the Cougars’ 81-69 victory over the Indians. He beat the record of 37 points previously set by Jason Tippie in 1992 and Andy Shelton in 2002.
“It was a pretty surreal feeling,” Severt said. “I’m just thankful that my teammates kept getting me the ball. They were very unselfish. It was a good game all the way around.”
The senior went 14-for-24 from the field, including 9-for-13 from the 3-point line and 5-for-5 from the free throw line.
“It was really out of the flow of the game,” said Cougars coach Kris Spriggs. “The kids did a good job. He was hot. He was feeling it a little bit. Michael needs to score for us within our team. The kids did a good job of distributing him the ball and getting him shots. Obviously, he knocked them down.”
Severt also earned family bragging rights. The record was once owned by his father, Steve Severt, who scored 36 points in a game against Greenon during the 1988-89 season.
“It was pretty great,” Severt said. “Now he can’t use that against me to say he beat me.”
Severt scored 26 points in the first half, so his teammates knew he had a chance to climb atop the single-game scoring list.
“They knew that night what the record was,” Spriggs said.
The senior hit nine 3-pointers in the game, nearly tying the school record of 10 set by his father’s former teammate Greg Beals. He’s been hearing the opposing teams yell ‘Shooter” from the bench every time he touches the ball this season.
“They knew I could shoot and they were trying to contest (shots),” Severt said.
Severt didn’t do anything differently before the game. He simply wanted to help his team win its second straight game.
“I wanted to have a good game, but my main priority was to get the win,” Severt said.
Spriggs wasn’t surprised by Severt’s big night. The senior spends extra time shooting to improve his game. He improved his scoring average by nearly three points to 14.5 points per game and
“He’s worked at his game and puts a lot of time in on his shooting,” Spriggs said. “It shows that the hard work pays off. It only took him 24 shots to get 42 points.”
The Cougars (4-9, 3-3 Central Buckeye Conference Kenton Trail Division) earned back-to-back wins last weekend against London and Mechanicsburg.
“We’re starting to get healthy and back in the gym,” Spriggs said. “We had a stretch where we were shut down because of COVID. We were quarantined. We’ve been able to get back into the gym and practice. We’re finally starting to make some shots. You play better when you’re able to put points on the board.”
As the postseason approaches, Severt hopes the Cougars continue to keep winning.
“We want to keep winning and get a good spot in the tournament,” Severt said. “We want to keep the season going as long as possible.”
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