Robinson’s big weekend helps break short Peebles slump –
By Mark Carpenter –
It was a big weekend for Coach Josh Arey and his Peebles Indians as they broke a two-game losing streak with wins on Friday and Saturday night, and it was a huge weekend for senior Bostin Robinson. Robinson poured in a career-high 30 points in a Friday night win at Manchester and followed that up on Saturday night with a 27-point outing in a non-conference win over visiting Felicity.
The 64-53 win over Manchester on Friday night was a Southern Hills Athletic Conference victory that improved the Indians to 7-2 overall in conference play, with a two-game advantage over Fayetteville in the SHAC’s small school division, with four conference games left on the Peebles schedule.
The match up with Manchester on Friday night was a rematch of just one week earlier, when the Indians had just squeaked by the Greyhounds 56-55 on their home court. On Friday on their home court, the Hounds had no answer for Robinson, who paced three Indians in double figures in the 11-point triumph.
“This was one of those game where we felt comfortable, but also felt a little uncomfortable because they kept hanging around,” said Coach Arey after the win. “I thought in the first half we executed well on both ends, rotated well defensively, and then we got a little bit of a lead and kind of let up, and they were able to capitalize.”
“It’s a credit to Manchester that they played hard all night, even after they lost Utterback early.”
The two county rivals kept it tight early until a 7-0 Peebles run broke a 6-6 deadlock and gave the visiting Indians a lead they never relinquished. A three-pointer by Robinson made it a 12-2 spurt before a bucket by the Hounds’ Shaun Gould closed out the first period, one that ended with Peebles up 18-10. Early in the period, the Hounds lost starting guard Tanner Utterback to an ankle injury which sidelined him the reminder of the game.
The Indians quickly stretched their lead to double digits when they scored on their first four possessions of the second quarter, three of those baskets coming from big man Blake Hawes, as they claimed a 26-10 advantage. A basket by Manchester’s Jamie Combs broke the run, but a Tanner Arey trey and another Robinson score made it 34-17.
Combs had a pretty good night himself, scoring 27, and he fired in a trio of three-point goals in the final three minutes of the first half, including a buzzer-beater that kept the Hounds within striking distance, down 36-25 at the break.
To begin the second half, the Hounds got buckets from Gould and Jacob Calvert, plus a Combs free throw as they got back to within 38-30 with 5:21 left in the third frame, but quarter number three belonged to Robinson. The Peebles senior matched the entire 16-point output by the Greyhounds in the period with 16 of his own, including a three-pointer from the top of the key at the horn to send the Indians into the final eight minutes with a 53-41 lead.
A three-pointer by Arey early in the fourth quarter extended the Peebles lead to 58-43, and though the Hounds battled right up until the final horn, the Indians proved to be too much, improving their overall record to 10-4 with the 64-53 victory.
In the “W”, Robinson was joined in double figures by Arey with 14 and Hawes with 12. Though overshadowed by Robinson’ big night, Combs had a memorable night for the Greyhounds with his 27, including five three-point goals, with Gould adding 10 and Gage Lucas 8.
“Bostin just really played well tonight,” said Coach Arey. “He is just having a great season. Tonight, he took great shot and shots that he can hit from around that 15-point range. Blake Hawes was really aggressive on the glass and has really been coming along lately. We can’t live with the two-headed monster on offense, we need that other scorer to step up.”
The Indians picked up their 11th win of the season on Saturday night as they downed the visiting Felicity Cardinals by a final count of 64-53. Robinson’s 27 led the way with Arey adding 12, Wade Shiveley 7, with 6 apiece from Hawes and Weston Browning, as the Indians moved to 11-4 with two home games coming this weekend, at home on Friday with Fairfield in SHAC play, and again on the home court on Saturday with a non-conference contest with Lucasville Valley.
Manchester, now 3-13 on the season, will have a pair of non-conference road games this weekend, traveling to Felicity on Friday night and then to Piketon on Saturday.
Peebles
18 18 17 11 –64
Manchester
10 15 16 12 –53
Peebles (64): Arey 5 1-2 14, Ball 1 0-0 2, Robinson 11 6-8 30, Hawes 6 0-0 12, Smalley 1 0-0 2, W. Browning 2 0-0 4, Team 26 7-10 64.
Manchester (53): Gould 2 6-8 10, Lucas 4 0-3 8, Pennywitt 0 2-2 2, Combs 9 4-6 27, Calvert 3 0-1 6, Team 18 12-20 53.
Three-Point Goals:
Peebles (5): Arey 3, Robinson 2
Manchester (5): Combs 5
