The Seymour Owls resume` was not nearly as rosy. The Owls came into sectional play with an 11-9 record and had lost to Jennings County by double digits in mid-season. It was not a given that the Owls could even reach the championship game as the blind draw had not been kind to them. On their half of the bracket the Owls would have to face an always strong Scottsburg team and county rival Brownstown Central. Jennings County on the other hand was all but given a cake walk to Saturday nights title game when the little schools of Medora, Crothersville and Austin appeared on their side of the drawing. On paper there was not much to indicate the 1973 Seymour Sectional could hold any of the drama the 1972 edition had provided.
As Sectional time approached Coach Barney Scott's Seymour Owls began to click. In spite of their unremarkable season record the Owls seemed to catch fire. They earned their way to the championship game by routing Scottsburg 91-72 then fighting off Brownstown 58-47. There were no surprises on the other side of the bracket as Jennings County dusted off Medora 80-55 and a determined Austin squad 93-80. The stage was now set for a rematch of the 1972 title game and another classic Jennings County vs Seymour match-up. Coach Scott knew his Owls would need to pull off a nearly perfect game to upset the Panthers, and they did.
Once again the 8,000 seat Seymour Fieldhouse was standing room only for the championship game on Saturday night. Hoosier Hysteria was at a fever pitch by tip-off and it would be a night nobody in the gym would forget.
Just as in the 1972 final, both teams came out firing. Jennings County's high powered offense built a slim 26-23 lead after the 1st quarter and maintained the lead until Seymour forged ahead 35-34 midway into the 2nd on a FG by Dave Earley. Throughout the next few minutes the lead switched hands several times. Inside of two minutes before halftime Seymour's Jerry Hageman scored on a lay-up to give Seymour a 45-44. The Owls built on that to a 49-46 halftime lead with the upset in sight.
Whatever words of inspiration Coach Barney Scott had learned over his many years of coaching he must've used in the halftime pep talk. His Owls exploded out of the locker room with an 11-2 run building a 60-48 lead to take control of the game. Their lead reached a high-water mark of 13pts at 65-52 midway into the 3rd quarter but everyone knew that Jennings County was going to make a run, and they did.
Jennings County was not about to let their fine season die without a fight. Billy Harmon led the attack as the Panthers chipped the lead down to 77-70 at the end of the quarter into the early moments of the 4th the Owls lead had dwindled to 77-74. But that was as close as the Panthers would get until it was too late.
With the giant upset looming the Seymour Fieldhouse was rockin'. The Owls pushed the lead up to 7 at 88-81 in the final minutes. At this point Coach Scott ordered the Owls to spread the floor and force Jennings County to foul. It worked just as he had hoped. With 0:42 left Seymour's Bill Penner hit two FT's for a 90-85 lead. As this was 15yrs before the advent of the 3pt shot, this gave the Owls a three possession lead that proved to be the nail in the Panther's coffin.
Jennings County's All-Star Danny Brown hit a FG with 0:32 seconds left and a 90-87 Seymour lead. Unfortunately for the Panther faithful Seymour was able to milk the clock down to 0:10 left before Jennings County could foul. There was no time left for a Panther rally.
Seymour went to the line and hit 1 of 2 FT's and a 91-87 lead. The Seymour fans were in a frenzy of excitement and as Jennings County inbounded the ball they began to sarcastically chant, "GO JC". A taunt a generation of Panther fans would never forget. Danny Brown hit a FG in the final seconds to bring the score to 91-89 but the Owls didn't even need to inbound the ball. Holding the ball as the clock ran out, the upset was complete.
Seymour had played the nearly perfect game Coach Scott said they needed to win. The Owls committed only 6 turnovers for the game while hitting 56% from the field. Exactly what they needed to win their 36th Sectional title.
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