|
|
| State-ranked Falcons escape Lion challenge |
By: Stephanie Sturgis - Press Sports Editor
|
Posted: Thursday, February 19, 2009 4:34 pm
|
Get a leg up — Dresden's Austin Evans uses the rim to fend off a Lake County defender in the Lions' District 14-A quarterfinal loss Tuesday night. Evans finished with 16 points as the Lions nearly upset the state-ranked Falcons.
|
|
|
The Lake County Falcons had to be glad to finally hear the final horn in their hard-fought 56-51 victory over the visiting Dresden Lions in the District 14-A quarterfinals Tuesday night in Tiptonville.
The Lions, the tourney's No. 7 seed, gave Lake County fits before faltering late. The Falcons, the third-ranked team in the state in Class A and the No. 2 seed in 14-A, hurt their own cause by missing the front end of three one-and-one free throw chances in the game's final 77 seconds. In addition to their struggles at the stripe, Lake County had trouble handling the vise-tight defensive pressure Dresden applied in the fourth quarter.
The Falcons pushed their lead out to 11 points, 52-41, on a Carlos Young trey for their first basket of the fourth quarter.
Thanks to heavy DHS defensive pressure and lax play by the Falcons resulting in turnovers and misses, the Lions clawed to within five points, 54-49, on an Austin Evans fastbreak layup with the assist going to Obrien Washington at the 4:33 mark. Fouled on the play, Evans missed the free throw, but a hustling Alex Robinson tracked down the rebound for Dresden. The Lions couldn't cut the gap to three when Evans missed a double-clutch midrange jumper.
Neither team lit the scoreboard again until only 1:29 remained in the game. During that 3:03 span, Dresden had two misses and two turnovers, while LC had one miss and four turnovers.
The fourth LC turnover came against the DHS press when Matt McCulley picked off a crosscourt pass, tipping the ball to himself in order to avoid a backcourt call. McCulley found Daniel Harris underneath for a layup to trim the Falcon lead to 54-51 with 1:29 left to play.
At the 1:17 mark, the Falcons' first missed free throw of the quarter was pulled in by Harris. Evans could not convert a layup with 61 ticks left to play and LC's Patrick Robertson rebounded the miss. The Falcons threw the ball out of bounds with 52 seconds remaining to give Dresden a chance to tie with a trey.
On the DHS offensive end, McCulley got trapped in the corner and his jump pass was picked off by Robertson, who went the length of the court and slammed home a dunk to give the Falcons a 56-51 lead with 40 seconds left on the clock.
Down the stretch, the Lions had their chances, but the shots suddenly stopped falling. Dresden missed the front end of a one-and-one and three shots from the floor in the final 40 seconds, while the Falcons did little to ice the game missing two freebies. Still, Lake County held on for the 56-51 victory, bringing an end to the Dresden season.
After a high-scoring first quarter, Lake County led 23-16. The Falcon lead hit 15 points in the second quarter before settling at 38-27 at halftime. The Falcons were in front by 10, 49-39, after three frames.
Lions playing their final basketball game in a DHS uniform included Obrien Washington, Chris Peeler, Matt McCulley, Eric Evans and Austin Evans.
District 14-A Basketball
Tournament Quarterfinals
Feb. 17 at Tiptonville
BOYS
Dresden (51) — Austin Evans 16, Matt McCulley 12, Daniel Harris 8, Tyler McPeak 6, Alex Robinson 5, Dillon Matlock 2, Obrien Washington 2.
Lake County (56) — Russell Avery 13, Carlos Young 12, Patrick Robertson 11, Rafeal Tyler 11, Dominic Kimble 4, Josh Bledsoe 3, Ron Garrett 2.
3-pointers: Dresden — McCulley, Robinson; Lake County — Young (3), Avery.
Records: Dresden 8-19, Lake County 26-2.
|
|
Printer-friendly format
|
|
|
| Obits |
|
|
| Advertisments |
|
|
| RSS Support Feed |
|
|
|
