BEAUMONT — This was not exactly what Port Neches-Groves coach Pat Abel had in mind for his Indians against the Class 5A No. 7 Ozen Panthers.
The Panthers forced 28 turnovers and defeated the Indians 62-29 behind 14 points from Derrian Jones. Ozen’s 28 turnovers led directly to 39 points.
“We can’t have that type of turnover ratio against anyone in our district and expect to win,” Abel said.
PN-G (11-7, 3-2) could get nothing going on offense the entire game. The Indians shot 21 percent and made only 8 of 38 baskets. PN-G was 1 for 12 behind the arc.
“We just didn’t show up in the first half,” Abel said. “I think we played a little intimidated, didn’t take care of the ball and didn’t execute what we do. It’s the blood in the water and the sharks feed off of it. Ozen did a tremendous job doing what they do.”
Ozen (17-3, 4-1) had 25 points off 17 PN-G turnovers in the first half.
The Indians could only muster up nine points in the first two quarters while the Panthers scored 19 in the first and 18 in the second to take a 37-9 lead into the break.
PN-G was outrebounded 42-27 and the board edge led to 25 second-chance points for Ozen.
Keynel McZeal scored the first points of the game and the Panthers immediately went on 12-2 run before McZeal hit a free throw to temporarily stop the bleeding.
Ozen then opened the second quarter on an 11-0 run to widen the gap to 31-7.
PN-G senior Ryan Abel was the only Indians player to make more than one shot in the game. Abel finished 3 of 6 with nine points and eight rebounds.
Hunter Curtis added six points while T.J. Jordan had five and McZeal had four.
Adam Morse, fresh off making six treys against Nederland on Tuesday, never found his rhythm and shot 1 for 10 from the field and 0 for 4 from behind the arc. Morse had three points and two boards.
“We have to go back to the drawing board on Monday and start taking care of the basketball,” Abel said. “We have to understand that we knew these three games in the middle of the district schedule are the most difficult. We needed to play our best to hang with them and have the potential to beat any of them. We just have to go back to work. We can’t pout about it and we can’t hang our hat on what we have already done. We still have work to do and hopefully they will not hang their heads for too long.”
The Indians finish the tough three-game stretch Tuesday at home against the Class 5A No. 6 Central Jaguars.