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| Saturday, July 31, 2010 |
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Staying perfect
Published December 16, 2009
Section boys basketball coach Ronnie McCarver has never had much luck winning at Pisgah during his 13-year tenure with the Lions. But his fortunes changed Tuesday night.
Clint Ryan scored 20 points in the second half as Class 2A No. 1-ranked Section held off 3A No. 6 Pisgah 86-81.
It was Section's first win against the Eagles in the new Pisgah Gymnasium, which was constructed three years ago.
But the win didn't come as easily as it appeared it would midway through the fourth quarter.
"I thought we were about to have terrible luck again," McCarver said. "We stepped up and made some free throws when we really needed to."
The Lions (9-0) took an 81-71 lead after two Ryan free throws with 1:12 to play. But Pisgah got a basket from Skylar Hall six seconds later, and a Corey Wheeler steal eventually led to a basket from Justin Lewis that cut the Section lead to 81-75 with 52 seconds remaining. Zac Barringer's jumper pulled the Eagles within 82-78 with 30 seconds to play and Wheeler hit a 3-pointer with 16 seconds left that pulled Pisgah within 83-81.
After Ryan made 1 of 2 free throws to push Section's lead to 84-81 with 12.5 seconds remaining, Pisgah shot for the tie on the ensuing possession. But Hall's 3-pointer was off the mark and Chance McCarver sank two free throws with 0.2 seconds left to seal the win for the Lions, who made 21 of 26 free throw attempts.
"Every night we're getting everybody's best shot," Ronnie McCarver said. "The guys are doing enough to get us wins."
Ryan flirted with a triple double, finishing with 34 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists. Chance McCarver hit six 3-pointers and scored 25 points, 22 of which came in the first half as Section rallied from an early deficit to lead 45-41 at halftime.
"Those two guys make them so hard to defend," said Pisgah coach Woody Beard. "McCarver stretches your defense out because he's a good (long range) shooter, and that takes another guy away that can help when Ryan goes to the basket."
Jimmy Maruhn added nine points and eight rebounds for the Lions, who also got eight points from Casey Fowler.
"We had other guys making shots too," Ronnie McCarver said. "When that happens were are real tough to guard."
Hall was tough to guard for Pisgah, scoring a team-high 30 points. Wheeler finished with 16 while Barringer had 12 and Brandon Sensor 11.
Pisgah (5-4) raced out to a 7-0 lead but led just 18-16 after one quarter. Pisgah opened the third quarter with 6-0 run to claim a 47-45 lead, but Maruhn's 3-pointer with 5:50 left in the period gave Section the lead for good. Ryan hit a 3-pointer at the third-quarter buzzer to send the Lions to the fourth with a 63-56 advantage.
"We kind of got lethargic in the third quarter," Beard said. "We seemed to get some intensity about us at the end but it was too late."
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