PREP BOYS BASKETBALL: Jimtown survives late Concord rally

Dec. 3—JIMTOWN — For the first eight minutes of Friday's game, Jimtown looked like they were going to run Concord off the floor.

The Jimmies scored the first 16 points of the contest, ultimately leading 21-3 after eight minutes of play.

By the time the final horn sounded, the Minutemen were nearly making a shot to win the game.

Concord rallied all the way back — taking a lead early in the fourth quarter, even — before eventually falling just short, 50-48, to Jimtown Friday in non-conference boys basketball action at Jerry Cook Court in Baugo.

The final shot attempt for Concord came from sophomore Lucas Prough, who's '3' from the right corner hit the side of the rim.

"I told the coaches before the game, 'the nice thing for Concord is they just had a close game,'" Jimtown coach Matt Stoll said. "So, they kind of knew how to do it; they kind of knew how to stay with it. So, if it was going to come down to the wire, it was going to be stressful. Thankfully, we hit some free throws at the end."

The Jimmies (1-1) came out on fire, especially from beyond the arc. They made five '3's' to score their first 15 points — one from senior Gaege Wachs, one from junior Bishop Williams and three-straight from Jackson Clopton. The junior then had an old-fashioned three-point play near the end of the quarter, which helped his team take an 18-point advantage into the second frame.

Clopton finished with a game-high 21 points.

"I've been working hard on him all week, just saying, 'You lead this team. This is your job,'" said Stoll of Clopton. "And he did a great job of staying calm. ... I just love the way he handled the flow of the game. He did a great job for us."

Eighteen points would be Jimtown's largest lead of the game, which would happen again at 28-10 and 31-13. The Minutemen (1-2) closed the first half strong, however, as an 8-0 run made it a 31-21 game at halftime. Junior Parker McCuen made a layup, followed by back-to-back three-pointers from Prough.

"Our young guys got the 'deer in a headlights' look out of them," said Concord coach Derrick DeShone of what changed for his team after the first quarter. "I thought we did a better job in the second quarter of rallying it a little bit. Our goal was to get it to 10 by half, and we got it to 10 by half."

Concord kept chipping away at the deficit in the third quarter. The visitors had a stretch where they scored six points in a seven-second span, helping cut the Jimtown lead to single digits at eight. A pair of Prough free throws to end the frame made it a 41-37 Jimmie advantage going to the fourth.

The Minutemen then took its first lead of the game less than two minutes into the final frame. Junior Braeden Messenger hit a '3' to start the quarter, then drilled another long-range shot a minute later to put his team ahead, 43-41, with 6:22 remaining.

"Our guards calmed down and we ran what we were supposed to run; we ran our offense," DeShone said. "We didn't force."

After a Taysire Williams free throw 30 seconds later made it a one-point game, Williams made a layup to give his team the lead again, 44-43, with 4:38 left in the contest. It would be the only three points the senior scored in the game.

A huge '3' from junior Justin Price a minute later put the home team ahead by four. Price finished with 13 points coming off the bench for Jimtown.

Concord got within one point, 47-46, following a field goal from McCuen and a made free throw from senior Javarion Sheppard.

Clopton would make three-of-four free throw attempts over a 24-second span in the final minute to push the lead back to four. Prough then calmly sank a pair of free throws to make it 50-48 with 14.8 seconds left. A subsequent missed free throw from Jimtown — and a timeout from Concord with 4.6 seconds left — set up the game's final sequence.

Messenger led Concord with 17 points, while Prough finished with 15. McCuen had six, while Sheppard, junior Jaylan Bolen and senior Nathan Schoengerr had three each and junior Andrew Kavanaugh one.

It's a quick turnaround for the Minutemen, as they host Angola Saturday night.

"I thought we got a lot of good looks," said DeShone of his team's offensive effort. "We got a lot of good looks in the second half that we just weren't hitting, and sometimes the ball goes in the basket for one team and not the other. We had a little bit of that (Friday)."

Along with Clopton's 21 points, Price's 13 and Taysire Williams' three, Wachs had five points and Bishop Williams and junior Bryson Crowder four each.

Jimtown next plays Thursday at South Bend St. Joseph.

"Having them believe in themselves was the biggest thing," said Stoll was a key takeaway for his team in the win. "Just seeing their confidence — they shot (the ball) without a hesitation in the world, and that's how we're going to be all year."

Austin Hough can be reached at austin.hough@goshennews.com or at 574-538-2360. Follow him on Twitter at @AustinHoughTGN.