By Justin Albers
For Pendleton News
PENDLETON — When the week began, it appeared as if the Pendleton Heights boys basketball team would have a brilliant opportunity to turn its season in the right direction. The Arabians had a conference game on Jan. 20 and concluded the week with a county rival game on Friday.
And even more importantly, both games were at home.
PH (6-6) split the two contests with Shelbyville and Highland, but defeated the heavy favorite Scots to end the week on a solid note.
The Shelbyville loss was a tough one to endure for the Arabians as they watched shot after shot clunk off the rim and bounce off. They shot just 35 percent (18-of-52) from the field in a 52-45 loss.
Even with that being said, PH had multiple opportunities to tie the score going down the stretch.
Nathan Hendershot hit a 3-pointer from the right wing with 30 seconds remaining that cut the Shelbyville lead to three at 48-45. The Arabians got a stop on the next possession, but looked out of sorts on offense and turned it over.
On the ensuing possession, the Golden Bears failed to convert, and the Arabians took a timeout to draw up a play. Freshman Kendall Waters brought the ball downcourt and passed to Hendershot on the left wing. But Hendershot took his eyes off the ball for a split-second and watched it bounce off his knee and out of bounds.
Shelbyville knocked in its final four free throws to seal the win.
“We took a lot of bad shots in the first half, we talked about it at halftime, then we took more bad shots in the second half,” said PH coach Brian Hahn. “Every time we worked it, every time we moved, every time we did things without the dribble, we got baskets. Unfortunately, we didn’t do enough of that.
“We did some good things battling back to create some turnovers, but we had some bad possessions there at the end and therefore, we didn’t have a chance.”
As bad as the loss hurt the Arabians, Friday night’s victory served as sweet redemption for a young PH team trying to find its way.
Michael Maxwell and Kendall Waters played some of their best basketball of the season and led the Arabians to a 54-43 win over the Madison County champs.
“It’s a tremendous win for this young group,” Hahn said. “We’ve struggled this year at mentally executing what we wanted to do, but tonight was just tremendous. Every time we drew something up, they executed it to a T.
“This was our county championship, this was our chance to prove that we can play with anybody in the area. We were disappointed in the way we played at Frankton and we felt we had a great opportunity to make it to that championship game.”
Maxwell scored 17 points on 5-of-7 shooting, including 3-of-5 from beyond the arc. Waters chipped in 15 points, seven rebounds, and four assists, and made multiple key plays to secure the win late.
The first came with 2:57 remaining and the Arabians ahead 39-32. The quick Highland guards played tight defense on Waters and forced him to slip near the sideline with two defenders on him. But he was able to keep his balance and his dribble as he drove the lane for a 3-point play.
The second play was equally as impressive and came only a minute later. Waters had lost his dribble and was looking for a pass but the Scots were overly aggressive and all five players came above the 3-point arc. But the freshman point guard kept his poise, looked past them, and found a wide open Nick Swartz underneath the basket for an easy layup.
PH gave Highland fits with its 2-3 zone. Every time a Scots big man caught the ball in the post, the Arabians brought help from the backside and forced the ball out of their hands. The 6-foot-10 Asauhn Tatum and 6-foot-6 Jordan Worley were kept scoreless and forced into a combined three turnovers.
The Arabians traveled to Connersville last night, but results were unavailable for the Pendleton News deadline. They will be back in action Friday night at Greenfield-Central.
Pendleton News
January 29, 2009
Sports (Jan. 28): Pendleton Heights boys fall to Shelbyville, beat Highland
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