Mustangs unable to rally against Peebles
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
A tournament atmosphere was evident Saturday night at Lynchburg-Clay High School with the Lynchburg-Clay Mustangs and Peebles Indians battling on the basketball court in Southern Hills Athletic Conference play.
The game saw the Mustangs lose a 10-point lead in the third, but they had opportunities at the end of regulation to tie the score or regain the lead. Someone had to lose in the epic contest, and on Saturday night, it was the Mustangs falling to the visiting Indians, 67-64.
For two quarters, the Mustangs were able to fend off the SHAC Division I first-place Indians by building a 41-31 lead with 6:10 left in the third-quarter clock, but that was before Beau Justice of Peebles turned the game around and took completely over.
[[In-content Ad]]Justice led all scorers with 26 points, with 20 of these points in the second half. He scored 14 points in the third.
"In the third quarter, I looked over at their scorekeeper when Justice had nine points and said 'a kid like that, we can only keep him down so long,'" LC head coach Matt Carson said. "He found a way to score, and he was contested on nearly every shot he made. We had a good effort against him, but he's a special player."
In the first half, the Mustangs held the 1,000-plus point scorer to just six points, but he turned the tide on LC in the second half as he made many contested shots from inside and beyond the arc, eventually putting the Indians ahead 48-45 at the conclusion of the third quarter.
With LC up by 10 points, Justice, who had already sank a 3-pointer in the quarter with 6:32 on the clock, scored six consecutive points in a span of 37 seconds with a put-back basket, a jumper and a steal and fast break jump shot to bring the Indians within four points of tying the score.
Those points started with what turned into a 17-4 run by the Indians in the final 4:18 of the third.
"I thought about calling a timeout, but I wanted us to play through that span," Carson said. "We fought back and had a good effort."
LC answered with a free throw from Christian Inman, but it was Justice who answered with another two-point basket. Gage Waits answered those points with two free throws for the Mustangs, but Justice continued his third-quarter dominance with a 3-pointer with 2:22 on the clock to bring the visitors within two points of tying the score at 44-42.
Brady Johnson was the one who tied the score for the Indians with points in the paint at the 1:22 mark of the quarter, but LC continued to battle, regaining the lead with a free throw from Devin Pierson.
PHS ended the third with points from Zach Arrasmith and Scott Kremin for a three-point lead.
In the fourth, both teams scored 19 points, though the Mustangs never led in the final eight minutes. The score was tied once in the fourth at 52-52 with 5:58 left in regulation following a 3-pointer from Pierson.
Pierson finished with 21 points, with 12 points in the first half.
In the final frame, LC trailed 65-61, but a three-point play from Ryan Inman with 1:45 brought the Mustangs to within one point of the Indians. Inman ended the game with 19 points.
Each team missed scoring opportunities, but PHS was eventually fouled and made two free throws to increase their lead to three points.
Once LC regained possession, they missed a three-point shot and later missed two free throws with 13.4 on the clock. LC regained possession of the ball for the final shot, but following a timeout they were unable to get the look they needed to get the three points they were looking for with time expiring.
"This was a game between two good basketball teams," Carson said. "We went head-to-head, and we came out on the losing end. It was like a 10-round prize fight."
As for the first half, the Mustangs led 19-15 after the first quarter with Waits scoring seven points in the opening quarter, along with Pierson adding six points. Waits finished the game with 16 points.
Ryan Inman scored two points in the first .,and Christian Inman scored two in the opening eight minutes.
LC was outscored 20-15 in the second, but they led 34-28 at halftime.
"It's no secret we have had some slow starts, but not this game," Carson said. "We have to find a way to keep up with the intensity we played with in the first half. We get another crack at them this season, and playing teams like Peebles can only make us better."
The Mustangs will play again on Friday, Jan. 17 when they host Fayetteville in what is a non-conference game between the two SHAC teams.
"I'm proud of the team (Saturday)," Carson said. "They left everything out on the court and gave it their all."
In JV play, LC defeated PHS, 49-44. Leading the Mustangs in scoring were Zach Blankenship and Josh Goble with 11 points each.
The game saw the Mustangs lose a 10-point lead in the third, but they had opportunities at the end of regulation to tie the score or regain the lead. Someone had to lose in the epic contest, and on Saturday night, it was the Mustangs falling to the visiting Indians, 67-64.
For two quarters, the Mustangs were able to fend off the SHAC Division I first-place Indians by building a 41-31 lead with 6:10 left in the third-quarter clock, but that was before Beau Justice of Peebles turned the game around and took completely over.
[[In-content Ad]]Justice led all scorers with 26 points, with 20 of these points in the second half. He scored 14 points in the third.
"In the third quarter, I looked over at their scorekeeper when Justice had nine points and said 'a kid like that, we can only keep him down so long,'" LC head coach Matt Carson said. "He found a way to score, and he was contested on nearly every shot he made. We had a good effort against him, but he's a special player."
In the first half, the Mustangs held the 1,000-plus point scorer to just six points, but he turned the tide on LC in the second half as he made many contested shots from inside and beyond the arc, eventually putting the Indians ahead 48-45 at the conclusion of the third quarter.
With LC up by 10 points, Justice, who had already sank a 3-pointer in the quarter with 6:32 on the clock, scored six consecutive points in a span of 37 seconds with a put-back basket, a jumper and a steal and fast break jump shot to bring the Indians within four points of tying the score.
Those points started with what turned into a 17-4 run by the Indians in the final 4:18 of the third.
"I thought about calling a timeout, but I wanted us to play through that span," Carson said. "We fought back and had a good effort."
LC answered with a free throw from Christian Inman, but it was Justice who answered with another two-point basket. Gage Waits answered those points with two free throws for the Mustangs, but Justice continued his third-quarter dominance with a 3-pointer with 2:22 on the clock to bring the visitors within two points of tying the score at 44-42.
Brady Johnson was the one who tied the score for the Indians with points in the paint at the 1:22 mark of the quarter, but LC continued to battle, regaining the lead with a free throw from Devin Pierson.
PHS ended the third with points from Zach Arrasmith and Scott Kremin for a three-point lead.
In the fourth, both teams scored 19 points, though the Mustangs never led in the final eight minutes. The score was tied once in the fourth at 52-52 with 5:58 left in regulation following a 3-pointer from Pierson.
Pierson finished with 21 points, with 12 points in the first half.
In the final frame, LC trailed 65-61, but a three-point play from Ryan Inman with 1:45 brought the Mustangs to within one point of the Indians. Inman ended the game with 19 points.
Each team missed scoring opportunities, but PHS was eventually fouled and made two free throws to increase their lead to three points.
Once LC regained possession, they missed a three-point shot and later missed two free throws with 13.4 on the clock. LC regained possession of the ball for the final shot, but following a timeout they were unable to get the look they needed to get the three points they were looking for with time expiring.
"This was a game between two good basketball teams," Carson said. "We went head-to-head, and we came out on the losing end. It was like a 10-round prize fight."
As for the first half, the Mustangs led 19-15 after the first quarter with Waits scoring seven points in the opening quarter, along with Pierson adding six points. Waits finished the game with 16 points.
Ryan Inman scored two points in the first .,and Christian Inman scored two in the opening eight minutes.
LC was outscored 20-15 in the second, but they led 34-28 at halftime.
"It's no secret we have had some slow starts, but not this game," Carson said. "We have to find a way to keep up with the intensity we played with in the first half. We get another crack at them this season, and playing teams like Peebles can only make us better."
The Mustangs will play again on Friday, Jan. 17 when they host Fayetteville in what is a non-conference game between the two SHAC teams.
"I'm proud of the team (Saturday)," Carson said. "They left everything out on the court and gave it their all."
In JV play, LC defeated PHS, 49-44. Leading the Mustangs in scoring were Zach Blankenship and Josh Goble with 11 points each.