Outside shooting leads Peebles past Wildcats

     MOWRYSTOWN – For three quarters the Whiteoak Wildcats played close to even with the Peebles Indians, but in the second quarter the Indians showed why they are undefeated overall this season outscoring the Wildcats 26-9 in the quarter, en route to a 65-49 Southern Hills League win Friday night at Whiteoak High School.

     On the night where royalty was crowned at WHS in celebration of homecoming, the Indians danced their way to a big lead in the second eight minute period that had the Wildcats battling from behind for the remainder of the game. After the first two quarters Peebles led 38-19.

     “We had one really bad quarter,” Whiteoak head coach Tom Wessner said. “It is difficult to come back from a deficit like that when it is that deep.”

     The game didn’t begin as planned for Whiteoak (1-2, 3-3) when the Indians put on a 3-point contest in the opening minutes with the long ball from Andy Countryman, Andrew Seaman, Blake Justice and Trent Acey for a 12-2 lead with 4:34 left in the opening period. The lone WHS points during that span came from Joe Michael.

     Ben Barnett and Mike Carraher combined for a 6-0 run the end of the first to put WHS down by two points at 12-10.

     Then the second quarter began.

     Peebles (4-0) started off the quarter with a 10-2 run as points were scored by Justice, Seaman and Acey. Acey had back-to-back buckets when he scored in transition, and followed that with a layup after the Indians stole a pass on the ensuing WHS possession, to build a 10-point lead at 22-12 with 5:20 left in the second.

     Michael came back with a full-court pass to Ethan Hawkins, as Hawkins made the open layup to put the Wildcats down by eight points.

     A 3-pointer from Seaman, followed with a 3-point basket from Tyler McFarland, gave the Indians a 28-16 advantage with 3:16 left in the opening half. After the three-ball from McFarland, Peebles scored more points for a 31-16 lead.

     WHS netted a jumper, but again, the Indians ended the quarter with another strong scoring run (7-1) to take a 19-point lead after 16 minutes of play.

     “We had to switch to man defense in the first when we got down 12-2,” Wessner said. We battled back and did a nice job to end the first quarter, but in the second we gave up too many uncontested shots.”

     The Wildcats won the third quarter by a margin of 22-18. Eric Collier added to the Peebles’ lead at the start of the second half, but his points were answered by Whiteoak’s Ethan Eyre.

     Justice sank another 3-pointer to put PHS ahead 43-21. Justice finished with game-high 19 points. He was 6 of 8 from the foul line and sank three 3-pointers.

     Michael cut the PHS down to 20 with points in the paint, but a basket from Seaman and a fast break by Collier gave the Indians their largest lead of the game at 24 points.

     WHS went on a run of their own with seven points from Barnett and four points from Eyre, an 11-0 run to put WHS down 12 points (47-35) with 3:00 left in the third.

     “We scored in spurts but the problem was those spurts would get us within 10 or 12 points of Peebles. Usually (this year) if we do that we take the lead or tie the game,” Wessner said.

     Hawkins put WHS within 13 points of the PHS lead with a bucket at the start of the fourth quarter. PHS answered with an old-fashioned three-point play as Collier made a layup while being fouled. The converted free throw gave Peebles a 59-43 lead with 6:39 left in the game. Scoring for WHS in the fourth along with Hawkins was Michael and Jerry Stuckey.

     WHS was led by Barnett and Michael with each player scoring 14 points. Hawkins finished with eight points. For PHS Countryman scored 13 points, followed by Seaman with 12.

     “I was pleased with the way we came back in the first quarter and we competed in the second half,” Wessner said. “Ben (Barnett) was scrappy tonight. He took some bumps early on and fought through it. He made some big shots fun us when we went on runs.”

     The Wildcats will play again Tuesday at Southern State’s Patriot Center as they face the Adena Warriors in non-league play. The freshman game will start at 5 p.m.

BOX SCORE

SCORE BY QUARTERS

PHS – 12 26 18 9 – 65

WHS – 10 9 22 8 – 49

INDIVIDUAL STATS

PHS (65)

B.Justice 2 (3) 6-8 19, E.Collier 4 1-1 9, A.Countryman 3 (2) 1-2 13, A.Seaman 3 (2) 12, T.Acey 3 6, T.McFarland 1 (1) 1-2 6. TOTALS: 16 (8) 9-13 65.

WHS (49)

J.Stuckey 2 4, B.Barnett 2 (2) 4-4 14, J.Michael 7 0-2 14, L.Morris 0 1-2 1, E.Eyre 3 6, E.Hawkins 4 0-1 8, M.Carraher 1 2. TOTALS: 19 (2) 5-9 49.