Last second shot lifts Peebles past Mustangs
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
DODSONVILLE - The Southern Hills League clash between the Lynchburg-Clay Mustangs and the Peebles Indians came down to the final second with PHS senior Andrew Seaman pulling off the fourth quarter heroics, as he put the ball through the hoop off an inbounds pass with the buzzer sounding to keep the Indians' undefeated streak intact, defeating the host Mustangs 67-65 Friday night.
"We played well both offensively and defensively," Lynchburg-Clay head coach Jason McLaughlin said. "Give Peebles credit, they made shots when it counted. But our guys played extremely hard and didn't quit from start to finish."
The Mustangs (4-5, 5-10) did almost everything they needed to in order to knock off the undefeated Peebles team, but the Indians did just a little more, producing from the foul line with a 15 of 16 performance in free-throw shooting, making their first 15 attempts.
Peebles gained their first lead of the game with 28.1 left in the third quarter when Eric Colliver scored inside points with a layup to jump ahead 55-53.
The showdown in the final frame contained excitement until the buzzer sounded with LC senior Jorden DeHaas tying the game 14 seconds into the quarter. At the 5:34 mark of the fourth PHS took back the lead with two free throws by Andy Countryman.
After PHS regained possession of the ball, LC senior Steven Collins, who gained five rebounds, kept the ball in play for LC as the Mustangs took the ball the length of the court, and found sophomore Tyler Davidson open for a 3-point bucket to lift LC ahead 58-57 with 4:19 left on the clock.
Countryman, who finished with eight points, put his team back in the top spot with 3:16 to play, connecting from the free throw line.
Collins provided the Mustangs with energy on both sides of the court as he made a timely block to keep PHS from scoring an easy bucket, and with 1:25 left in regulation the senior netted put back points, under pressure, to give the Mustangs a 59-58 lead.
Peebles (16-0) chipped away at LC to mount a four-point advantage with a 3-pointer and free throws by Blake Justice. Justice finished with a game-high 24 points, making four 3-pointers and going 6 of 7 from the free-throw line.
Austin Fawley, who lifted LC for a majority of the game, knocked down his sixth 3-pointer with 30.1 remaining to bring LC within one point of tying the undefeated Indians. Fawley finished with a team-high 20 points.
After Peebles took a one possession lead, Dylan Noll tied the game at 65 with two points, leaving 8.9 left on the clock. Noll ended the game with eight points and five rebounds.
Following an out of bounds call on LC, Seaman sank the aforementioned game-winning shot. Seaman ended the game with 23 points, including four 3-pointers.
"We knew coming into the game (Andrew) Seaman and (Blake) Justice were going to be tough," McLaughlin said. "We kept pressure on them with hands in their faces the whole game, but they are good players."
In the opening minutes of the varsity contest, the Mustangs showed they were prepared to play the Indians when they jumped out to an 6-0 lead, then extended the advantage to 9-2 with Fawley making his first trifecta of the game.
Leading 13-4 halfway through the first quarter with four straight points from Aaron Skaggs (who finished with 16 points, nine rebounds and seven assists), the Mustangs continued to battle with the Indians as Seaman dropped a 3-pointer through the hoop. His points were quickly answered with a 3-ball by Fawley for a 16-7 LC advantage with 2:28 left in the opening frame.
The excitement continued with Fawley making another 3-point shot, but his points were topped by Justice and Seaman who each scored three points. Justice's points came from a retro three-point play.
At the start of the second quarter LC expanded their lead to 30-17 with a 9-0 run as Fawley started the run with a 3-ball, followed with fast break points from Skaggs. Collins added two points from the paint and Skaggs came back with inside points.
Justice stopped the run by the Mustangs, as each team then went back-and-forth by taking turns scoring, until Dallas Puckett and DeHaas went back-to-back for LC for a 41-28 lead with .49 seconds left in the first half.
Peebles wouldn't fold, continuing to stay in the game with a 3-ball from Justice, but the half was ended with a 3-pointer, at the buzzer, by Skaggs to put LC up 44-33.
The third was opened with PHS scoring six straight, but Noll slowed down the Indians with two free throws.
For the remainder of the quarter both teams continued to battle with Seaman tying the game at 53 with 1:11 left in the quarter.
LC will now play six games in eight days due to the postponed contests from this past week. They start the stretch Saturday as they host West Union. On Tuesday, Feb 16 LC will face the Ripley Blue Jays.
The loss drops LC to 5-10 overall, 4-5 in the SHL. PHS improves to 16-0.
In JV play PHS defeated LC 54-35. LC was led by Shain Gragg with nine points.
BOX SCORE
SCORE BY QUARTERS
PHS - 17 16 22 12 - 67
LCHS - 21 23 9 12 - 65
INDIVIDUAL STATS
PHS (67)
Justice 3 (4) 6-7 24, Colliver 4 2-2 10, Countryman 1 6-6 8, Seaman 5 (4) 1-1 23, T.McFarland 1 2. TOTALS: 14 (8) 15-16 67.
LCHS (65)
Puckett 1 2, McCarthy 0 2-2 2, Skaggs 6 (1) 1-1 16, Davidson 0 (1) 3, DeHaas 5 10, Fawley 1 (6) 20, Noll 3 2-2 8, Collins 2 4. TOTALS: 18 (8) 5-7 65.
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