By Mark Carpenter
People’s Defender
Peebles Indians fans in the stands on Tuesday night at PHS had to feel really good about their team’s chances of advancing in the sectional tournament, especially after watching the first quarter of action as the Indians entertained the Portsmouth Trojans in a Division III sectional semi-final contest. After dealing with offensive issues all season, the Tribe fired out of the gates with a 19-point opening period and it looked at that moment like all would be right in the Indians world.
Unfortunately for the home team, however, the moment didn’t last. After putting up 19 in the first frame, the Indians could only muster 25 more points over the final three quarters as the Trojans erased an 11-point deficit and came from behind to win buy double digits, ending the Peebles season by handing them a 57-44 defeat.
“You saw our game plan the first quarter,” said Peebles head coach Josh Arery in his postgame radio interview. “We wanted to be patient and limit their possessions because of their ability offensively. I thought we did that early but the worm began to turn in the second quarter and we probably settled for too many jumpers instead of attacking the rim which got us the early lead. We felt like we should have had a much bigger halftime lead.”
“We had to do things almost perfect the entire night and we did in stretches but not for an entire 32 minutes. Portsmouth did a good job of making us rush a lot of our shots and that’s a credit to them. They have a lot of great players who know their roles.”
The first quarter Peebles surge was led by senior Zane Knechtly, who tallied eight first quarter points, all coming with hard work under the basket against a physical Portsmouth squad. The Indians also got scoring contributions in the first period from Mason Sims, Cory Reed and Gage Grooms with six points, and when they closed the first quarter on a 6-0 run they held an impressive early 19-10 advantage.
The Indians didn’t score until three minutes into the second period when a Reed three-pointer gave them a 22-11 lead. The Trojans answered that with a Tyler Duncan three-point play as the pace then began to quicken up and down the court, though with very little offensive success on either end. The only other Peebles baskets of the second frame came from Sims on a goal tending call with 10 seconds left in the half and though they had managed just five second-quarter points, the Indians still took a 24-18 advantage into the halftime break.
After the break, the tide began to turn, in favor of the visitors. A bucket “and one” by Sims on the first Peebles possession of the second half kept the home team up 27-20, but the Trojans responded with three-point goals from Duncan and DeAndrae Berry. After a Knechtly free throw, the visitors reeled off six straight and took their first lead since 2-0 in the opening minutes of the game at 32-30. The Indians got a trio of free throws from Reed and Chris Oldfield to go back in front by one, but the Trojans were beginning to assert their physicality, controlling the offensive boards and finishing the third quarter on a 6-0 run to lead 38-33.
The Trojans continued to roll as the fourth quarter began. As the Indians continued to get any shots to fall, the visitors scored the first six of the quarter and extended their lead out to double digits for the first time at 44-33. Oldfield went coast to coast for a Peebles score, but Portsmouth answered with a Kenny Sanderlin three-ball and a Berry jumper to keep the home team at bay.
With 1:55 to play, a basket by Sims cut the Portsmouth lead to 50-41 and a later Oldfield trey made it 53-44 but that came with just 57 seconds left in the game and time was about to run out on the Peebles season. The final four points of the game went to the Trojans as they advanced to the Division III sectional finals with the 13-point triumph.
For the Indians, the move up this season to the Division III brackets was bound to be a tough one, especially after all their remarkable district and regional runs in Division IV in recent seasons.
The winning Trojans were led by three players in double figures, led by DeAndrae Berry with 19. Kenny Sanderlin added 15 while Devon Lattimore tossed in 14. Portsmouth now advances to face South Points in a sectional final contest.
The Indians close out their season with a final overall mark of 10-13, and they were led in scoring by 10 points apiece from seniors Mason Sims and Cory Reed. Zane Knechtly added 9 with Gage Grooms contributing 8. The tale of the tape was the Peebles shooting in the loss, 3 for 21 from beyond the arc and 29% overall from the field.
Tuesday’s defeat was the final home game for another outstanding group of Peebles seniors, including Mason Sims, Remington Beckham, Cory Reed, Hayden Crum, Zane Knechtly, Dallas Wilkinson and Zane Porter (who missed the entire season with an injury).
“These seniors are just a great bunch of kids who come in and work every day,” said Coach Arey.
Portsmouth
10 8 20 19 —57
Peebles
19 5 9 11 —44
Portsmouth (57): Lattimore 4 6-10 14, Duncan 2 1-1 6, Sanderlin 6 2-2 15, Livingston 1 1-2 3, Berry 7 3-4 19, Team 20 13-19 57.
Peebles (44): Sims 4 1-1 10, Oldfield 2 2-2 7, Grooms 4 0-0 8, Cory Reed 2 5-6 10, Knechtly 4 1-2 9, Team 16 9-11 44.
Three-Point Goals:
Portsmouth (4)- Berry 2, Sanderlin 1, Duncan 1
Peebles (3)- Sims 1, Oldfield 1, Reed 1