Staff writer
Two losses ended the regular season for the PBHS Warriors. The squad suffered a home loss, 62-36, Feb. 22 against Hope and lost a road game Thursday at Elyria in the final seconds of the contest 38-37. The team entered sub-state play at Berean Academy on Monday.
Hope
Jacob Gillet opened the contest with a 2. A 14-point Lion run was briefly interrupted by Matt Hiebert with 2, and Hope led PBHS, 14-4, with 33 seconds left in the first quarter. Hunter Pickens connected on two free throws before the buzzer, but PBHS trailed, 14-6, at the end of the quarter.
Pickens and Hiebert added a trey each to start the second quarter and cut the Hope lead to 2, 14-12. Hope answered with 2 from the line and also a trey. Hiebert got a 2, and PBHS was down 5, 19-14. The Lions added 4, and Gillet put in 2 for the PBHS squad. A Hope 2 was followed by a trey from Austin Savage. Hope had 2 from the line but Seth Topham got on the board with 2 plus a free throw. Gillet added a 2 and PBHS cut the Hope edge to 3, 27-24, with 10 seconds left in the quarter. A Warrior foul put Hope at the line just before the half to make the gap 29-24 at the break.
Lucas Larsen had one free throw for the PBHS team in the third quarter. The Lions added 15. The 5-point halftime deficit became a 19-point gap. The Warriors were down, 44-25, at the end of the third quarter.
Joseph Lopez opened the fourth quarter with a 2. A reckless 7 minutes for the Warriors produced 9 more points, 5 from Storm Pickens and 4 from Gillet. Hope added 18. PBHS was defeated by Hope, 62-36.
Scoring
Gillet, 10; Hiebert, 7; Hunter Pickens, 5; Storm Pickens, 5; Topham, 3; Savage, 3; Lopez, 2; Larsen, 1.
Elyria
Hiebert opened with a 2, and the Eagles answered with a 2. Brody Kyle had a 2, but Elyria came up with 3 from the line to take the 1-point lead, 5-4. PBHS regained the lead with a 2 and a free throw from Hiebert. The Eagles added a point but PBHS finished the quarter with 5, a trey from Storm Pickens and a 2-point basket from Hiebert. The Warriors had the 12-6 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Elyria had a 2 for the first points of the second quarter, but Topham got a steal and finished for 2 with 7 minutes left in the period. The Eagles got another 2, but Storm Pickens answered with a 2. An Elyria trey cut the lead to 3, 16-13, with 5 minutes on the clock. Hiebert extended the lead to 5 with a basket, but the Eagles closed the gap to 18-14 at the half with the addition of 1 from the line.
Kyle had the first points in the third with a 2. The Eagles then went on a 10-point run and took the 24-20 edge with 3 minutes, 20 seconds on the clock. Hiebert closed the gap to 2, but Elyria answered with a 2. Hiebert again came up with a 2, but the Eagles responded with a trey. Gillet made 2 from the line with seconds left in the period, but the Eagles added a 2-point basket with 4 seconds on the clock. The 4-point halftime lead turned into a 5-point deficit, 31-26, at the end of the third.
The Eagles scored first in the fourth quarter, but Gillet got on the board with a 2. Elyria scored 1 from the line, but Hiebert cut the Eagle edge to 3, 34-31, with a trey at the 4-minute mark. The Eagles added two free throws, and Hiebert added 2 from the line. After an Elyria timeout with 1 minute, 18 seconds left in the contest, Topham came up with a steal and finished with a 2. PBHS trailed by 1 with 1 minute, 9 seconds on the clock. PBHS offense set up for a shot that was blocked into the hands of Storm Pickens. Pickens connected for a 2, and the Warriors led, 37-36, with 31 seconds left in the contest. One basket attempt at each end kept the advantage with the Warriors with 15 seconds left in the game. With two seconds left in the game, the Eagles drained a 2 and PBHS lost 38-37.
Scoring
Hiebert, 18; Storm Pickens, 7; Gillet, 4; Topham, 4; Kyle, 4.