County rivals Alberton and Superior met last week. The Bobcats jumped out to an early lead, but failed to hang on, losing 21-32 on Tuesday night.

The Bobcats took an early lead in the first, 7-0, but went outscored in the remaining quarters. Alberton had a 10-2 run in the second to lead at halftime, 10-9. From there, the Panthers took control to win.

“It was just one of those games where they went into it and underestimated the other team,” said Superior coach Bajin Smith.

Smith admitted that the Bobcats struggled offensively in the second half and their defense struggled.

“We tried to make some adjustments at halftime,” Smith said, “but our defense wasn’t working as we anticipated. (Alberton) has some good shooters and they have a lot of returning starters. They’re a solid team.”

Sophomore Billy Smith was the high scorer for the night. He dropped nine points into the basket. Teammates Tanner Coon and Clint Voll added two a piece, Zach Benda scored five and Aaron Lowman added three.

Going into a game against Loyola on Thursday, Smith said that they knew they were up against a team with a lot of depth and that it was going to a struggle.

“We knew going in they’d be tough,” he said. “Loyola’s coach Scott Anderson is a great coach and I think he’s been there 20 plus years.”

The Rams outscored the Bobcats in the first quarter, 28-10, and led at halftime, 47-21, on their way to a 66-27 victory. Despite the loss, Smith said that he felt that the game wasn’t so bad.

“We saw a lot of good things come out of that first half,” Smith said. “Our kids didn’t quit. In that first quarter, Loyola had one of their shooters make all eight of his three-point shots.”

Lowman led the Bobcats with 13 points.

This week, Smith said that they are looking at a huge conference game with Darby at home.

“We’re looking at them to get another conference win, but we won by only a few points when we first played them so we’re working on the little things,” Smith said.

They will also play Troy on Saturday at home.