Two members of the Southern Hills Athletic Conference, Whiteoak and Peebles, traveled to Northwest High School on Wednesday to battle one another for the Division IV Sectional title and the right to advance to the District Tournament at the Convo in Athens.
The Indians of Peebles were able to jump out to a 6-1 lead early in the quarter as Tanner Arey and company pressured the Wildcats of Whiteoak and forced them into several bad shots.
Following a timeout at the five-minute mark the Wildcats found their rhythm as Zach Rand scored on a layup and was fouled to earn a trip to the charity stripe. Rand hit the free throw to get the Wildcats within two points at 6-4.
From there Traeton Hamilton and Stephen Ross combined for seven points and the Indians netted eight. Peebles held a three-point lead at the end of the first quarter 14-11.
Peebles was able to take control in the second quarter following a Ross layup that got the Wildcats to within one point at 18-17. The Indians answered with a 15-0 run that spanned four minutes.
Hamilton was able to get a basket to go with 43 seconds to play in the half and Rand hit one of two from the free throw line to end the half on a mini run of their own. But, the Wildcats trailed 33-20 at halftime.
The third quarter brought more of the same for both teams as the Indians continued to score seemingly at will against the Wildcats defense and soon extended their lead to 18 points at 43-25.
The Wildcats closed the third quarter with a 9-6 run to get within 16 points at 50-34 as the third quarter came to a close.
The Indians iced the game in the fourth quarter as they poured in the points from the field early and made the most of their chances at the charity stripe when Whiteoak elected to foul midway through the quarter.
The Wildcats mustered 16 points in the fourth but allowed the Indians to score 18 in the frame to provide the final score of 68-50.
(Box Score)
PHS: 14-19-17-18
WHS: 11-9-14-16
Peebles: Arey 7-1/1-15; Ball 3-6; Robinson 7-7/8-21; Haines 4-8; Smalley 1-2; Browning 3-10/16-15
Totals:25-18/25-68
Whiteoak: Yeager 3-1/2-7; Butler 2/2-2; Skinner 1-2/5-4; Hamilton 4(1)-3/5-14; Crowe 1/2-1; Ross 2-1/4-5; Carr 1-2; Rand 4-4/7-12; Hughes 1-1/1-3
Totals: 16(1)-15/28-50
Reach Ryan Applegate at 937-402-2572, or on Twitter @RCApplegate89.
