The Southwood Knights ran into a juggernaut in the opening round of the IHSAA Boys Basketball Frankfort Regional Saturday, March 12, falling to No. 11 Lafayette Central Catholic, 75-56.

LCC raced out to a 7-0 lead in the first three minutes of the game before Southwood got on the board with a bucket from Nathan Lehner with 4:44 left in the first quarter.

The LCC Knights extended the lead to 11-2 over the Southwood Knights in the next 24 seconds and extended it to 16-4 with 2:33 remaining.

Southwood battled back with 3-pointers from Derrick Smith and Cole Winer to cut the lead to 17-10 at the end of the first quarter.

The second quarter was a different story. LCC outscored Southwood 22-5 over the next eight minutes to take a 39-15 lead at halftime, but, as they did in the championship game a week earlier, Southwood kept fighting to make a game of it.

Smith opened the second half with a 3-pointer before Cole Winer scored 10 of the game’s next 14 points to cut the lead to 43-30 with 3:58 remaining in the third quarter.

After two LCC free throws, Smith hit his second 3-pointer of the quarter to make the score 45-33, but LCC scored the next seven points to put the lead at 52-33.

Southwood punched right back with an 8-0 run with four points from Winer, a free throw from Lehner, and Smith’s third 3-pointer of the quarter to cut the lead 52-41.

LCC maintained an 11-point lead with 4:03 left in the game before running off 10 consecutive points to put the game away and end Southwood’s season.

The Southwood Knights finish the year with a 15-12 record after winning their third consecutive sectional title. They will return with the bulk of the roster next season, losing the only senior on the team in Derrick Smith.