By Mark Carpenter
People’s Defender
As the old saying goes, all good thing come to an end. In the annals of Ohio high school boys basketball, that saying holds trues for all but seven teams at the end of the season, the seven teams that finish with a state championship trophy in hand.
For the 2025-26 Peebles Indians, their championship dreams had gotten them to a 20-win season and a Division VI district championship and a date in the Sweet 16 with the Portsmouth West Senators. That contest took place on March 12 at the Ohio University Convocation Canter and turned out to be the end of the line for the Indians.
The Peebles squad, who were an offensive juggernaut all season, scoring 70 points of more in 15 outings, finally had the night that their coaches and fans dreaded. Shooting just 29% from the field and hitting just 5 of 24 three-point attempts, the Tribe could muster up just 32 points in four quarters as the Senators broke open a close game and pulled away in the final quarter to hand the Indians a season-ending 42-32 defeat.
“They (West) played a tough game with that 1-3-1 defense,” said Peebles head coach Josh Arey in his postgame radio interview. “We had some good looks but just weren’t able to capitalize and we weren’t able to get to the line as much as we hoped we could. Our outside shooting was off and it was just one of those nights unfortunately, shots we usually hit.”
“I thought our kids played extremely hard and left it all out on the court. As a coach, that’s all you can really ask for.”
“I thought defensively we were good, just giving up 42 points,” Arey continued. “It just didn’t go our way on the offensive end and that’s a credit to Portsmouth West and their coaching staff.”
The defensive tone of the game was set early as the two teams combined for just 13 points in the opening period., the first three of those coming on a triple from Peebles’ Bo Johnson on the Indians’ first possession, but the Senators matched with a three-ball from Corbin Miller. The Tribe scored on their next two possessions, a three-pointer from Josh McClary and then a bucket in the paint from Keegan Puckett, but that was all for Peebles in the opening frames. West got a basket from Miller and the opening quarter ended with the Indians on top 8-5.
The solid defense continued into the second quarter with just seven points in the first three minutes, West getting a three-ball from Miller and a bucket from leading scorer Will Kegley to take their first lead, but two buckets from Puckett put the Tribe back in front. The Senators answered with a 6-0 run to take a 16-12 lead with just two minutes left in the opening half. In that final two minutes, Johnson hit a pair free throws and Kegley got another score and a somewhat unexpected low-scoring first half ended with West up 18-14.
As the third quarter began to unfold, it looked as if the Indians had been refreshed by the intermission as they barged out on a 7-0 spurt, all seven of those points coming from Josh McClary and giving Peebles a three-point lead. West quickly tied things up on another Miller trey, which began an 11-2 run spanning over the final three minutes of the third quarter. The only blemish on that Senators’ run was a basket by Peebles’ Connor Gross and the momentum took a shift as the third period ended with West leading by six, 29-23.
Coming from behind is not something that the Indians have had to do much this season, but it was the positions they found themselves in this regional semi. Unfortunately, their shooting woes continued in the final quarter as they only managed a McClary basket in the first five minutes, allowing the Senators to build their advantage to double digits at 35-25. Not quite ready to call it a night, the Indians roared back with a 7-0 run, beginning with back-to-back three-point goals from Paxton Ryan and McClary from NBA range. A Grady Knechtly free throw with 1:15 left brought Peebles to within 35-31 and an Elite Eight berth seemed to be a real possibility, but the Senators had other ideas.
West blanked the Tribe over that last 1:15 and sewed up their first-ever trip to the regional finals. most of that damage coming from the charity stripe as the Senators nailed five free tosses down the stretch to seal the deal on a 42-32 Sweet 16 victory.
The victorious Senators shot 34% from the field but more importantly, hit 11 of 12 second half free throws. West was led in scoring by Will Kegley’s 17 points with teammate Corbin Miller joining him in double figures with 11.
Unusually for them, the Indians placed just one player in double figures, Josh McClary with 15 points. The microcosm of the Peebles struggle shows on the final stats sheet where two of the team’s biggest outside threats, Bo Johnson and Paxton Ryan, went a combined 2 for 18 from the field.
Peebles ends another outstanding season with an overall record of 20-4 and will bid farewell to a quartet of seniors- Colyn Sims, Grady Knechtly,Paxton Ryan and Wyatt Smart. The Indians will be in great shape going into next season returning three starters and getting reinforcements from Coach Michael Walls’ 17-2 JV squad.
“These seniors are wonderful kids,” said Coach Arey. “They were a success in basketball and they will be a success in life. They are extremely intelligent kids and they came in every day and worked their tails off, doing anything we asked them to. Just wonderful kids to be around and their attitude every day has been a pleasure and a joy for me.”
“We have a lot of kids coming back and the future is definitely bright and we’ll be getting some big contributions next year from this year’s JV kids. We’re excited for those kids coming but we still have to get better and physically stronger. I think our kids will answer the bell.”
Box Score
Portsmouth West
5 13 11 13 —42
Peebles
8 6 9 9 —32
P. West (42): Kegley 17, Miller 11, Quirasco 6, Kammar 6, Adkins 2
Peebles (32): Knechtly 0 1-2 1, Gross 1 0-0 2, Johnson 1 2-2 5, McClary 6 0-0 15, Puckett 3 0-0 6, Ryan 1 0-0 3, Team 12 3-4 32.
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