Free throws all the difference as Indians nip Manchester

By Mark Carpenter

People’s Defender

“Saturday Night in the SHAC” came to Manchester High School on January 20 as the Greyhounds welcomed the Peebles Indians to the Hound Pound for an all-county Southern Hills Athletic Conference match up. Saturday was the only time these two county squads will get together and with that in mind, they made it a memorable evening for everyone involved.

Saturday night’s battle was a tight one from start to finish and it all came down to the free throw line in the final seconds of regulations. The Greyhounds had five free throws in the final 3.3 seconds and could only convert one, one more would have given them the “W”. In overtime, it also came down to the charity stripe and it was Peebles junior Hayden Browning hitting two in the clutch to break a 49 all tie and give the Tribe the 51-49 victory.

“We were fortunate that Manchester didn’t hit those later free throws” Peebles head coach Josh Arey told C103 Radio after the win. “We’ve been in this situation a lot the last few weeks and it’s nice to finally come out on top. Our kids stuck with it tonight, guarded extremely well as a team. We’ve made some changes and have had some great practices and hopefully tonight is a springboard for us.”

After a JV contest won by Peebles 44-38, the two evenly-matched varsity squads took to the court and it was the Hounds striking the first blows as a 6-0 run midway through the first quarter gave the home team a 9-4 advantage. With less than a minute to go in the opening frame, a Parker Hayslip three-pointer put the Hounds up 12-5 but Peebles’ Gage grooms matched that long distance effort and the first stanza ended with the home team holding a four-point lead.

The Indians continued the momentum of that late Grooms trey by beginning the second period on a huge 11-0 run capped by a Garrett Shiveley three-ball that gave the Tribe a 19-12 lead with four minutes left in the first half. An Elijah Crabtree three-point play pulled the Hounds back to within four and started a three-point barrage as connection from long distance were Carson Reed for the Indians and Leland Horner and Braylan Roberts and when that smoke had cleared, Peebles went to the intermission with a slim 22-21 lead.

The second half began with the game’s seventh three-pointer, this one by Hayslip to give the lead back to the home side. A bucket by Peebles’ Payton Johnston tied the game at 24 and another Shiveley triple continued the back and forth and put Peebles up by one at 27-26. A nice running revers layup by Grooms pushed the Indians’ lead to three but the Hounds answered with a 8-0 run, again going long distance twice, Connor Darnell and then Hayslip and the scoreboard flipped again to a Manchester advantage. The third quarter ended with a steal and score by Peebles’ Carson Reed, leaving the Indians trailing 34-31.

The fourth quarter was one of those “money’s worth” eight minutes and it started with a Shiveley three-pointer that tied the game for the fifth time. The sixth tie came after baskets by Manchester’s Darnell and Peebles’ Reed, before a three-point play by Drew Kennedy gave the hounds a 39-36 lead. The Greyhounds kept that lead until just 58 seconds were left when a baseline drive by Grooms and a short turnaround in the lane by Reed put Peebles up 44-43. Then things got a bit crazy, especially for the home team.

With just 3.3 seconds to play in regulation, Manchester’s Roberts was fouled while attempting a potential game-winning three-pointer. Roberts missed the first free throw, hit the second to tie the game, then missed the third, but the rebound was grabbed by Kennedy in the middle of the lane and he went immediately up for a shot and was fouled with 1.9 seconds to go. Needing just one free toss to go down for the win, the Greyhound senior drew back iron on both shots, sending the game into overtime deadlocked at 44.

The extra period began with an offensive board and score from Shiveley followed by a nice left-handed scoop in the lane by Darnell for another tie, this time at 46 apiece. A drive and score by reed put the Tribe back in front but that quickly changed when Hayslip drilled a three-pointer from the wing. With 1:16 to play, Reed was fouled on a shot attempt and hit one of two to even the score at 49 and no one scored until just 28.6 seconds were left and Hayden Browning was fouled and went tot he line for a pair of freebies. The Indians’ junior calmly sank both shots for the 51-49 lead. The Greyhounds had a last chance to pull out the in but a Horner three-pointer from the corner was off the mark and the visitors had escaped with the exciting two-point victory.

The victorious Indians were led by a trio of players in double figures, led by Carson Reed’s 18 points, Garrett Shiveley added 11 with Gage grooms tossing in 11 as the Tribe snapped a five-game losing streak and improved to 6-8 on the season, 4-5 in conference play.

The tough loss dropped the Greyhounds to 9-8 (3-6 SHAC) and they were led by Connor Darnell’s game-high 20 points. Parker Hayslip added 14 for the home team.

Both teams will be in conference action on Friday, January 26 as the Indians will host Lynchburg and the Greyhounds will host Ripley on Homecoming Night. Peebles will also be in action on Saturday evening, hosting Ironton St. Joseph in non-conference play.

Peebles

8 14 12 10 7 – 51

Manchester

12 9 13 10 5 – 49

Peebles (51): Shiveley 5 0-0 13, Reed 8 1-3 18, Grooms 5 1-2 11, Johnston 2 0-2 4, Browning 1 2-2 5, Team 21 4-9 51.

Manchester (49): Hayslip 5 0-0 14, Robert 1 1-3 4, Darnell 9 1-2 20, Kennedy 1 1-3 3, Horner 2 0-0 5, Crabtree 1 1-1 3, Team 19 4-9 49.

Three-Point Goals:

Peebles (5)- Shiveley 3, Reed 1, Browning 1

Manchester (7)- Hayslip 4, Roberts 1Darnell 1, Horner 1