Warriors win at home, lose on road
Staff writer
The Peabody-Burns boys' basketball team finished this past week with one win and one loss in two league contests.
The Warriors had an exciting one-point overtime victory Tuesday at home beating Central Christian, 69-68. However, on Friday they were defeated on the road by Ell-Saline, 75-56.
The PBHS Warriors played from behind through the Central Christian contest. Down by 12 early in the first, the Warriors managed to put six on the board before the buzzer but were down by eight, 14-6, at the end of the first quarter. Adam Carroll, Michael Unruh, and Mario Nava each had two in the period.
The Warrior offense ignited in the second, outscoring the Cougars, 20-10. The defense did a good job creating turnovers and giving the offense scoring opportunities. Caleb Good paced the Warriors with eight. Nava and Job Hilliard tossed in four each. Isaac Good and A. Carroll rounded out the Warrior score with a basket each. The Warriors were down by two at the half, 28-16.
The contest remained close in the third. The Warriors took the lead briefly in the quarter, but ended up down by three at the buzzer, 41-38. Tyler Litton led the Warriors with five. I. Good shot a trey with C. Good and Unruh adding two each.
In the fourth quarter, the Warriors mounted a slow, steady attack on the Cougars. Numerous fouls put both squads at the line frequently. The PBHS squad was down by two with less than a minute to play in the contest. A Warrior foul put the Cougars in a position to make it a four-point lead. The Cougars managed one free throw to stretch the gap to three, 56-53.
With just under 10 seconds to go, the first three-point attempt by PBHS bounced out. Adam Carroll scooped up the rebound and kicked it out to C. Good on the perimeter. The long shot went through the hoop to send the game into overtime with both teams tied at 56. C. Good had eight in the period. Unruh added four and Nava put in three. I. Good, Jason Carroll, and A. Carroll each put in one.
The Warriors went down early in the period, down by seven, 65-58, with less than two minutes to play. The Good brothers combined for five to make it a two-point game, 65-63, with over one minute left in the extra period. The Cougars came back and added free throws to the total to make the deficit four, 67-63.
With less than 30 seconds left to play, Unruh put in two to make the gap a basket, 67-65. Good tied the game at 67 with 24 ticks on the clock. The Cougars took the edge once more with a free throw to put the Warriors behind by one. With just a few seconds on the clock, a Cougar foul sent Unruh to the line for two shots. Both shots hit the mark and the Warriors took a hard-fought overtime victory, 69-68, over Central Christian.
Friday's matchup with Ell-Saline started slow for the Warriors as the speedy Cardinals took an early eight-point lead. The Warrior offense put six on the board in the period, but were down by nine, 15-6, at the end of the first.
The PBHS squad played tight to the Cardinals in the second quarter while the offense generated 20 in the period. The Warriors closed the gap to two points in the second. The score favored the Cardinals at the half, 28-26. Isaac Good paced the Warriors in the half with 10. Caleb Good followed with six. Brandon Crabtree put in four with Jason Carroll, Michael Unruh, and Tyler Litton each adding two.
The situation got tough for the Warriors in the second half when turnovers and foul trouble put the game out of reach. The Cardinal lead was 13 at the end of the third quarter, 50-37.
The fourth quarter pace was slowed as both squads made numerous trips to the free throw line. The Warriors were defeated by the Ell-Saline Cardinals, 74-56.
Regulation play ends for the Warriors with two final home games. They meet Remington Tuesday and Canton-Galva Friday. Sub-state play will depend on the outcome of the Tuesday match-up.
PBHS vs CENTRAL CHRISTIAN
Caleb Good 25, Michael Unruh 12, Mario Nava 9, Isaac Good 8, Tyler Litton 5, Adam Carroll 5, Job Hilliard 4, Jason Carroll 1.
PBHS vs Ell-Saline
Caleb Good 17, Isaac Good 15, Michael Unruh 9, Brandon Crabtree 7, Tyler Litton 5, Jason Carroll 2, Adam Carroll 1.
