Peaster scores late, tops Jim Ned 48-46 in boys' area-round heartbreaker
CISCO — Jim Ned’s boys basketball team clawed back into Thursday’s Class 3A boys area basketball playoff game against Peaster but couldn’t finish the job.
The Greyhounds staved off a late push from the Indians in the fourth quarter to escape with a 48-46 win.
The Indians finish the year 24-11.
"There was a lot of stake in a game like this — it's the playoffs," Jim Ned coach Blake Allen said. "I thought they listened to the game plan we had. I thought they competed well."
The first two quarters were back and fourth, with Peaster leading 26-23 at halftime.
But Jim Ned went cold in the third quarter.
The Indians made just three field goals and trailed 38-31 by the end of the quarter — it seemed as if the game was slipping away.
Jim Ned, however, woke up to start the fourth quarter on a 5-0 run, thanks two easy buckets and a Peaster intentional foul.
With 3:20 remaining, Jim Ned tied the game for the first time since the second quarter at 40. But seconds later, the Greyhounds retook the lead.
That was a recurring theme in the game's last few minutes.
Trailing 46-43 with 15 seconds left, Jim Ned sophomore Carter Wood hit a 3-pointer in the corner to tie the game. But the Greyhounds moved the ball down the court and Hank Morris scored the go-ahead basket on a layup and was fouled.
For every key Jim Ned basket, Peaster seemed to have an answer.
"They answered shots with a big shot," Allen said. "You make a shot, they go to transition. You have to get a stop. It's basketball."
Morris missed the free throw and Jim Ned had one last chance. With 1.5 seconds left, Xavier Wishert drew a shooting foul just outside of the paint.
"It's exactly what we drew up; put it in one of your leaders' hands," Allen said. "We wanted to get the ball in his hands to make a play and we had a shooter (Carter Wood) off to the side just in case."
The senior guard missed his first attempt. Wishert then intentionally missed the second one and tried to get the rebound, but by the time the Indians gathered it, the buzzer sounded.
"In that situation, you have to miss," Allen said. "I just told him, as soon as you get it, throw it off the rim, see if it will catch them off guard a little bit. Unfortunately, Peaster got a hand on it."
Wishert led the Indians' scoring effort with 14 points. Ben Eshelman and Carter Lange also reached double figures with 12 and 11 points, respectively.
For Peaster (26-9), Shon Ealey and Noah Drenth each had nine points, while Morris and Jerrin Canafax each had eight.
Jim Ned had won five games in a row before losing to Peaster. The Indians finished tied for second in District 6-3A with an 11-3 record in league play.
Allen and his team hoped for a different result Thursday, but he is proud of how the Indians fought against a quality Peaster squad — and all season.
"If we competed well and executed our game plan I couldn’t guarantee them a win, but it was the best shot I thought they had to win," Allen said. "We’re disappointed, but we’re walking out with our heads high: We played our butts off."
Peaster will face the winner of San Angelo Lake View and TLCA San Angelo in the Region I-3A quarterfinals.
Carson Field is the area sports reporter for the Abilene Reporter-News. He covers primarily Big Country high school sports. If you appreciate locally driven news, you can support local journalists with a digital subscription to reporternews.com.
REGION I-3A AREA PLAYOFF
Peaster 48, Jim Ned 46
Peaster ... 15 ... 11 ... 12 ... 10 — 48
Jim Ned ... 11 ... 12 ... 8 ... 15 — 46
Peaster (26-9) — Shon Ealey 4 0-1 9, Noah Drenth 4 1-4 9, Jerrin Canafax 3 0-1 8, Hank Morris 4 0-1 8, Tramar Gilbert 1 4-4 6, Gunner McElroy 2 0-0 5, Jack Hotopp 1 0-0 3.
Jim Ned (24-11) —Xavier Wishert 5 0-2 14, Ben Eshelman 3 6-11 12, Carter Lange 3 3-4 11, Carter Wood 2 0-0 6, Colt Lindsey 1 0-0 2, Josh Luckenbach 1 0-0 2.
This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: Peaster scores late, tops Jim Ned 48-46 in boys' area-round matchup
