
Peebles’ Carson Reed (12) makes his way around a South Point opponent in action from the Indians’ 54-43 loss to the Pointers at Saturday’s Coach Young Classic. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)
By Mark Carpenter
People’s Defender
Coming off a big 25-point Southern Hills Athletic Conference win over West Union on Friday night, Coach Josh Arey and his Peebles Indians were right back at it on Saturday, returning to the Coach Young Classic at North Adams for a match up with the South Point Pointers. After winning three of their first four on the 2024-25 schedule, the Indians had dropped four of their next six decisions and were looking to make it a weekend sweep with a win over the Pointers.
Prospects for that sweep looked good for half of Saturday’s contest, but a second half letdown doomed the Tribe on this day. A 12-2 run to open the second half broke open a tie game and gave South Point the lead and the Pointers made that stand up the rest of the way, handing the Indians a 54-43 defeat.
The game began on a high note for the Indians as a Garrett Shiveley three-pointer gave them a 6-4 advantage. Peebles maintained that lead throughout the opening frame, a Bo Johnson putback giving them a late 11-9 lead. South Point got the final basket of the first period, which closed with the game deadlocked at 11.
The song remained the same in the second quarter with neither team grabbing more than a three-point lead. A nice drive and reverse layup by Grady Knechlty gave Peebles the lead and after the Pointers tied it up, an old-fashioned three-point play from Paxton Ryan put the Tribe up 16-13. A three-ball from South Point’s Davon Lewis tied the score again and was part of a 7-2 run that put the Pointers up two. The final score of the first half belonged to Peebles’ Josh McClary and the teams headed into the halftime break all even at 20.
Out of the locker room, the two teams performed in drastically different ways. The Indians went cold and could only manage a Paxton Ryan floater in the lane in the first five minutes of the third quarter. Meanwhile, the Pointers found the range, getting a pair of three-point plays, one from Brayden Hanshaw and another from Ethan Layne, as they opened up a double digit lead at 32-22.
The Indians got their own “and one” from Carson Reed and two more from Reed at the stripe kept his team within striking distance at 34-27. On the strength of a three-point goal from Hanshaw, the Pointers took their biggest lead at 40-29, but the Tribe cut that back to single digits on a McClary layup at the third quarter buzzer.
As the score would indicate, the final eight minutes of the game was basically the Indians doing all they possibly could to cut into the South Point lead and get back in the game, but the Pointers had an answer for every Peebles attack. The Peebles fans ignited when Reed hit a three-pointer and Ryan added a steal and score and with 2:54 to play the Pointers’ lead was down to 47-40.
That Peebles flurry brought on a South Point timeout and the strategy of being very patient on offense, with the clock being their best friend. Even with the slowdown, a putback by Johnson pulled Peebles within 49-43 with 1:26 to play, but that was all the Indians could put on the board. The Pointers converted five free throws down the stretch and that was good enough to seal the eventual 11-point victory.
It was a big day for South Point senior Brayden Hanshaw, who led all scorers with 23 points. Hanshaw was joined in double figures by teammates Davon Lewis with 12 and Ethan Layne with 11.
Peebles dropped to 5-6 overall with the loss and the Indians were paced in scoring by Carson Reed’s 12 points. Paxton Ryan also hit double figures with 10.
South Point
11 9 20 14 —54
Peebles
11 9 11 12 —43
South Point (54): Hanshaw 9 5-7 23, Lewis 4 2-6 12, Hunt 1 1-2 3, Evans 1 0-0 2, Layman-Spurlock 1 0-0 2, Vance 0 1-4 1, Layne 5 1-1 11, Team 21 10-20 58.
Peebles (43): Shiveley 1 0-0 3, Sims 0 2-4 2, Knechtly 1 1-2 3, Reed 3 5-5 12, Johnson 3 0-0 6, Ryan 4 2-5 10, Browning 1 0-0 3, McClary 2 0-0 4, Team 15 10-16 43.
Three-Point Goals:
South Point (2): Lewis 2
Peebles (3): Reed 1, Shiveley 1, Browning 1