Peebles’ Alan McCoy (22) scores on a lob on a perfectly executed out-of-bounds play at the buzzer that ended the first quarter, two of his 16 points in the Indians’ win over Manchester on Monday night. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)
McCoy, Reed combine for 31 in five-point Peebles victory
Manchester’s Isaiah Scott (33) drives to the rim for a first quarter score, two of his game-high 24 points as the Greyhounds dropped a 57-52 decision to visiting Peebles on February 7. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)
Peebles’ Mason Sims drives to the bucket for a score in the first half of the Indians’ win at Manchester on Monday evening. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)
By Mark Carpenter
People’s Defender
The first time that the Peebles Indians and Manchester Greyhounds boys varsity basketball squads matched up in late December, they combined for 165 points on the Indians’ home floor. On Monday night, the scene shifted to the Hound Pound in Manchester as the two teams battled for the second time, and although the point total was much lower, the script remained very similar. As in the first meeting, the Greyhounds fell into a double digit hole, then battled all the way back, before fading in the game’s final minutes as Peebles pulled off a second five-point win over the Hounds, this time by a final count of 57-52.
“We exected Manchester to put up a fight,” said Peebles head coach Josh Arey in his postgame radio spot. “We went stagnant offensively at times and they took advantage. I felt that in the key moments late in the game our kids were prepared. Manchester just continues to play better and we wish them all the best going forward.”
The Indians opened the game with back to back buckets from Zane Knechtly and Cory Reed, but the Hounds bounced back to take the lead at 5-4 on an Isaiah Scott three-pointer. Peebles got two scores from Reed to go back in front only to see another Scott three-ball tie the game at 8. The Tribe went back in front on two Mason Sims free throws and a basket inside from Alan McCoy, but Manchester again answered from downtown, this time a trey from Daulton McDonald.
A later old-fashioned three-point play from the red-hot Scott tied the score at 14 and when Scott hit a twisting jumper in the lane, the Hounds had reclaimed the lead at 16-3, but a bucket by Zane Porter deadlocked the scoreboard again and with just 0.5 seconds on the clock the Tribe had the ball under their own goal and a perfectly executed lob play to McCoy gave the lead back to Peebles as a first quarter that saw three ties and five lead changes ended with Peebles on top 18-16.
The contest remained tight through most of the second period, but turned when the Indians got three-point goals from Sims and Reed to spur a 13-0 run that pushed the visitors ahead by double digits. The run included three baskets by McCoy and the third of those gave Peebles a 36-22 advantage. The Greyhounds did get back some momentum before the halftime break with a basket from Connor Darnell and two McDonald free throws but the home team still trailed 36-26 at the break.
As the third quarter progressed, the Indians held on to their double digit lead with a steal and score from Reed making it 44-32/ Scott hit another to get the Hounds back within nine, but a jumper by Reed pushed Peebles back up 46-35. It was at the point that the proverbial light came on for the home team. A three-pointer by Darnell started a big Manchester runt hat spanned into the fourth quarter. Baskets by Scott and Darnell brought the home crowd to a frenzy as a 7-0 run to end the third brought the Hounds within 46-42.
Manchester made it an 11-0 run by beginning the final stanza with a bucket by Leland Horner and two McDonald free throws, tying the game once again, this time at 46 apiece. A Knechtly basket gave the lead back to Peebles, but Scott tied the score at 48 with 5:15 to play. McCoy gave the lead back to Peebles, but two Zander White charity tosses again evened things at 50. The Hounds had expended a lot of energy in making their comeback and perhaps they just ran out of gas as the Indians scored the game’s next seven points, a run that began with a nice driving reverse layup from McCoy and ended with a Zane Porter free throw will 11.4 seconds left that gave Peebles a 57-50 lead.
A basket by White with just two ticks left on the clock ended a fourth quarter that witnessed three ties and three lead changes ende with the Indians picking up their second victory over Manchester, this time by that final count of 57-52.
The winners placed a pair of players in double figures as Alan McCoy and Cory Reed scored 16 and 15 points respectively, with Mason Sims and Zane Porter each adding 9.
Manchester’s Isaiah Scott led all scorers with 24 points, 17 of those coming in a big first half performance. The Hounds got 9 points from Daulton McDonald, 7 from Connor Darnell, and 6 from Zander White.
The win improved the Indians to 8-9 on the season, 5-5 in the Southern Hills Athletic Conference, and they got no rest as they were right back in conference play on Tuesday night with a trip to Eastern Brown. On Friday, February 11. Peebles will host Whiteoak and on Saturday will host Lynchburg in a makeup game that will complete their SHAC schedule.
The Greyhounds fell to 5-15 overall, 1-11 in conference play. They will complete their regular season this weekend with a Friday night contest hosting Fayetteville and a Saturday home date with Piketon.
BOX SCORE
Peebles
18 18 10 11 —57
Manchester
16 10 16 10 —52
Peebles (57): Sims 3 2-2 9, McCoy 7 2-2 16, Porter 4 1-2 9, Reed 7 0-1 15, Knechtly 3 0-0 6, Team 24 5-7 57.
Manchester (52): McDonald 2 4-4 9, Young 1 0-0 2, Darnell 3 0-0 7, Z. White 1 4-4 6, Horner 2 0-0 4, Scott 9 3-5 24, Team 18 1-13 52.
Three-Point Goals:
Peebles (2)- Sims 1, Reed 1
Manchester (5)- McDonald 1, Darnell 1, Scott 3
