Early in the week, the Bethel Bees walked out of Indian Lake High School feeling good after cruising to an easy 62-30 rout of the Lakers, for their second win of the season.
Three days later, that feeling turned to disgust, after going scoreless in the third quarter in their home opener against Twin Valley South, falling 31-28 after their fourth quarter comeback fell short.
"South was good team, and did their homework on us, after seeing us play twice," Bethel coach Rick Hickman said. "That was their first game."  "We just didn't shoot the ball well, when you shoot 25 percent from the field and 37 from the free throw line, you won't win many games. We were fortunate to only lose by three."
Bethel trailed 23-21 at the half, only to hit a major roadblock in the third period, as the Bees were held scoreless. It was a fourth quarter comeback attempt by the Bees that fell short, even though they outscored the Panthers 13-8 in those eight minutes.  Kyle Hamlin and Gus Schweiterman led the Bees with seven points each, while Joe Zimmerman added six.  "Defensively we held them to 31 points, and I can't remember a time in my career that we held a team to 31 and lost," Hickman said. "It was good to have Schweiterman back after his injury at Arcanum, but he wasn't up to par, and he needs to get the confidence back with his knee."  "We missed some layups and open shots, but didn't have an answer for their big kid Meyers."
Bethel 62 Indian Lake 30- Bethel exploded in the opening period for 24 points, and opened a huge 38-16 lead en route to the win. They played the game without Schweiterman. It was another great defensive effort by the Bees, holding the Lakers to 30 points, while the Bees capitalized on turnovers and pressure defense that allowed Bethel to open a huge lead and cruise to the win. "They were better than what we saw last season, but we came out and shot well, and pressured them into turnovers," Hickman said.
Bethel returns to the court on Friday at Tri County North, and Hickman feels the kids will bounce back. "These kids are resilient," he said. "Last year we stuck our toe a couple of times and they bounced back. It's not who falls, it's who get back up the most."  "We need to come out and respond on what just happened."
Bethel 60 Tri County North 36- A huge start for the Bees helped them win their third game of the season. Bethel led 41-18 at the half, and increased that to 56-23 heading into the fourth quarter.
Dusty Elsass led the way for Bethel with 21 points, while Schweiterman added 11, Hamlin scored 10 and Bain nine.
The 3-1 Bees return to action this week as they play at Miami East on Friday, 8:00 pm tip-off.