Panthers hold on against Red Devils in wild finish
Comments (...)GRANVILLE — Another classic was added to the chapter of the rivalry between Putnam County and Hall on Friday night. Jake Sale came up with a huge defensive stop as time expired to give PC a 53-50 win in front of a sold-out R.M. Germano Gymnasium on Hall of Fame Night.
With 1:30 to go in regulation and the score tied at 48, Cody Veronda buried a 3-pointer to give PC a 51-48 lead. PC extended the lead with 34.5 left with two Sale free throws, but Hall’s Brett Fanning cut the lead back to three with a layup with 21.4 left.
Following two PC turnovers, a 3-pointer from Scott Ernat got stuck between the basket and the backboard, forcing a jump ball to be called. The possession arrow favored Hall (16-8, 7-1), which got one last heave by Jake Ries, but was missed by a Sale block.
“We had a good look. We set a double for Jake and Brett (Fanning), and run them both off it. If Jake didn’t get it, he was going to clear all the way out and Brett was coming out,” Hall coach Mike Filippini said. “The first option was going to shoot it, and Sale made a nice play by blocking it. The people got their money’s worth. It had everything a conference championship game had. We came up one shot short.”
PC went on a 17-6 rally in the second quarter to extend the lead to 32-20 at halftime.
“I told the kids in the locker room that our start is what killed us. When we beat Peoria Christian, and even the second time we played them, we had great starts. That got us going, and we didn’t have that tonight. It seemed like in the first half, we play just played catch-up the entire half, and we played a helluva second half, and the key was defense. If we could restart the game, I would love it, but I don’t think (PC coach) Josh (Nauman) would let us,” said Fillipini.
Hall answered with a rally of its own to start the second half, with Fanning earning two quick layups, and Derek Lukosus hitting a jumper to cut the PC lead to 34-26. Hall cut the lead down to two following a 3-point play by Colin Bezely. After a Harold Fay jumper, Fanning would make a layup with 0.4 left to trim PC’s lead to two. Evan Bean hit a 15-foot jumper as time expired to give PC a 44-38 lead at the end of the third.
“We wanted to cut it to six at the end of the third, but we did one better. The shot (by Bean) at the end of the quarter was a big shot in the game. They gave us chances to come back, but we missed a lot of free throws and that killed us,” said Fillipini, who said by switching some defensive matchups, it helped hold PC to 10 points in the third.
Nauman said losing Veronda and Sale with injuries left the Panthers reeling. They did return to action.
“We came out on fire and played great in the first half with all the momentum going, and we opened the third quarter fairly well too,” Nauman said. “All of a sudden, Cody and Jake had to come out, and we had trouble scoring and lost our composure. We took some maybe some not good shots and let them build their confidence back and get back in it. We were able to pick it back up and finish it out.”
With the win, PC, Hall and Peoria Christian were all tied for first place of the Tri-County Conference.
Notes: PC inducted Jerry Zelinski, coach Joe Massino, and members of the 1972 baseball team as members of the sophomore class of the Hall of Fame Friday. ... PC swept the evening by defeating the Hall Red Demons 61-31. Miguel Villareal led Hall with 11 points. ... Hall hosts Serena Saturday.
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