Peebles’ Bo Johnson elevates for a jumper over Eastern defender Kade Walkup in action from the Indians’ 58-48 loss on January 3. Johnson scored 13 points in the defeat. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)

Peebles’ Bo Johnson elevates for a jumper over Eastern defender Kade Walkup in action from the Indians’ 58-48 loss on January 3. Johnson scored 13 points in the defeat. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)

<p>After getting control of the basketball, Peebles’ Josh McClary goes up to score two of his 13 points as the host Indians fell to Eastern Brown 58-48 on January 3. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)</p>

After getting control of the basketball, Peebles’ Josh McClary goes up to score two of his 13 points as the host Indians fell to Eastern Brown 58-48 on January 3. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)
<p>Peebles’ Grady Knechtly goes up for a left-handed shot attempt during the second half of the Indians’ loss to Eastern Brown last Friday night. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)</p>

Peebles’ Grady Knechtly goes up for a left-handed shot attempt during the second half of the Indians’ loss to Eastern Brown last Friday night. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)

By Mark Carpenter

People’s Defender

Coach Josh Arey and his Peebles Indians opened the 2025 portion of their schedule on Friday, January 3, hosting a tough Southern Hill Athletic Conference opponent in the Eastern Warriors. It seemed like a good time to get the Warriors on the road, playing without their leading scorer, injured junior Grady Barber. For the first 28 minutes of Friday’s action, it looked like the Tribe was going to seize the opportunity.

With the score tied at 48 apiece and just under four minutes to play, the Indians hit a brick wall while the visiting Warriors finished the game on a 10-0 run, allowing them to secure an important 58-48 conference win on the road.

“We were right there until that final four minutes,” said Coach Arey after the game. “Maybe we got a little tired because Eastern can wear you down. Our kids are young but we are eight games into the season and we want to see improvement each time out.”

The Indians were coming off a December 30 win over East Clinton, one in which they had put up 95 points, but points aren’t as easy to come by against a Rob Beucler-coached squad. The home side kept things close early, though Eastern went up 10-6 on the strength of a pair of three-point buckets from Landen Koehler. With under a minute left in the first quarter of what was already an intense battle before a packed house, Peebles’ Carson Reed drained a long three from the top of the key to pull his team within 16-12 and the opening quarter eventually ended with the Warriors up 18-13.

The Warriors maintained their advantage early in the second stanza, getting an old-fashioned three-point play from Pryce Murphy, but that was followed by Peebles getting a pair of Bo Johnson free throws and a Josh McClary three-ball to cut the gap to 23-21. Another three-point play, this time from Chase Pinkerton, put Eastern up by five but the home team closed the first half with a 7-2 run, getting a second McClary trey and a jumper at the buzzer from Reed that sent the two teams to the intermission deadlocked at 30 apiece.

The third quarter began with a spark for the home team as baskets by Reed and McClary gave them a four-point lead only to see the Warriors answer with a 6-0 run to retake the lead. As the third period went on, the Eastern run ballooned to 13-2 with a three-pointer from Pinkerton giving them a 43-36 lead with 2:40 left in the third. A bucket by Peebles’ Garrett Shiveley at tone one-minute mark cut the Eastern lead to five as the final quarter commenced.

The opening salvo of the final quarter came from Bo Johnson, whose three-pointer pulled the Indians within two at 43-41 and when McClary followed soon after with a long bomb of his own, the Tribe had retaken the lead. The two teams swapped baskets before a three-point goal from Jaidon Florence put the Warriors back up 48-46. A drive down the baseline and ensuing floater from Johnson tied the game, but that was all to be had for the home side.

A basket from Carter Cluxton followed by a steal near midcourt by Florence that resulted in a three-point play gave the Warriors the lead for good and they followed that up with free throws from Florence and Pinkerton to put the bow on a 10-point conference road win, their fifth in six SHAC outings.

“We can give everyone a good game but we need to get past that point to where you’re not just giving them a good game, but you’re winning some of them too,” said Coach Arey.

The Warriors improved to 7-2 overall with the win at Peebles and they were led in scoring by Chase Pinkerton’s 17 points, with teammate Pryce Murphy also hitting double figures with 13 as did Jaidon Florence with 10.

The Indians fell to .500 with the loss, 4-4 (3-3 SHAC) and their leading scorer on Friday night Carson Reed with 15 points, followed closely by Bo Johnson and Josh McClary with 13 apiece.

The winter storm that hit the area on Sunday put all of this week’s action in danger of cancellation, with the Indians scheduled to host Manchester on Tuesday night, travel to Fayetteville on Friday night (both conference games) and then make the long trek to South Point for a non-conference tilt on Saturday, January 11.

Eastern Brown

18 12 13 15 —58

Peebles

13 17 8 10 —48

E. Brown (58): Walkup 1 0-0 2, Florence 3 3-3 10, Pinkerton 7 2-3 17, Cluxton 3 0-0 6, Koehler 3 0-0 8, Vance 1 0-0 2, Murphy 6 1-1 13, Team 24 6-7 58.

Peebles (48): Shiveley 1 0-0 2, Knechtly 0 1-4 1, Reed 5 3-4 15, Johnson 4 4-6 13, Ryan 0 0-2 0, Browning 2 0-0 4, McClary 5 0-0 13, Team 17 8-16 48.

Three-Point Goals:

E. Brown (4): Florence 1, Pinkerton 1, Koehler 2

Peebles (6)- McClary 3, Reed 2, Johnson 1