By Mark Schafer | The News-Review
PACKWOOD – It wasn’t certain if the inaugural home game of the season was going to be celebrated or not.
Thursday night the Pekin boys basketball team opened up their home schedule with a 66-60 win over Columbus. Although they were able to get the win, the nails of the fans watching the game were gnawed down, as the game closed up in the second half and down the stretch.
“There is a lot of value in getting the first home win,” said Pekin boys basketball head coach, John Swanson. “Our guys were pretty poised and we executed the plays extremely well tonight. We made some plays out of the timeouts. This point in the year we don’t have time to work on game situations. To see the situations like we did, that is going to help.”
The game started off comfortably enough for the Panthers as they enjoyed a 20-8 lead after the first quarter. From there, Columbus seemed to wake up and challenge the Panthers the rest of the way.
The Panthers started the final frame with a 48-42 lead, but immediately, the Wildcats were able to narrow the lead to just three points.
For most of the fourth quarter the lead bounced between three and six points, but the Wildcats were able to pull within two points with just 1:30 left in the game. Just when it seemed that Columbus was setting up to take the lead, Pekin junior, Henry Adam, was able to make a move.
The speedy junior was able to rush to the side and get a steal. Eventually he would pass the ball off to Cole Millikin who drove inside the lane for a layup. He made the shot and gained a foul for the and one opportunity.
Millikin made that shot, and the lead grew to five points.
Just when the Panthers seemed like things were going to get easy, Columbus made another run. The Wildcats were able to drain a three pointer, something they had excelled in throughout the second half of the game, to close the game back within two points.
Once again, Millikin was able to draw a foul. He made the first of the two shots, but missed the second, putting the Panthers up 64-60 with under a minute to go.
Columbus tired to get down court in a hurry, so they attempted a long pass down the entire length of the floor. However, the bass went too high, and bounced off a rafter, resulting in a turnover.
Eventually, Pekin’s Alijah Brock would end up with the ball. He made both free throw shots and the Panthers would go on to grab a 66-60 victory.
“We needed to be relaxed,” Swanson said about what made the game closer than it started out being. “We threw the first punch, but Columbus was ready to throw punches right back. We had a lot of careless turnovers. Down the stretch, we missed a lot of easy shots and easy rebounds that we were supposed to have. We didn’t go after the ball as much as we should have. Our defense really needed to get to the ball. Credit to Columbus, they really came out strong.”
After the Panthers had been able to grab the 20-8 lead in the first quarter, Columbus started to hit three pointer after three pointer to trim the lead 29-21 at halftime.
“It is tough to defend a team that shoots a lot of threes,” Swanson said. “It is tough to switch things up not just when a team shoots a lot of threes, but also makes a bunch of them like they were. We should have backed off from some of the shooters quicker than we did. They are unique in that they live or die by the three. Every time I thought we had them, they would bury a corner three.”
The Panthers were able to keep pace with the Wildcats through most of the game, never surrendering the lead.
Although they never gave up the lead, they let the Wildcats get a little more comfortable than needed.
“We beat ourselves quite a bit with a bunch of bad turnovers and missed shots,” Swanson said. “When you turn the ball over, it is really hard to get momentum going. Obviously, it also allows the other team to have the ball when we don’t. We weren’t cutting, the ball was stale. I think we were thinking just a little too much.”
Despite the turnovers, the veteran Panthers were able to get through the game and claim the victory, which was their fourth-straight win at that time.
Thursday night, the Panthers were led by Millikin with 25 total points. Nolan Glick was able to add 13 points in the win. Brock had 11 points. Henry Adam finished with six points, and Riley Smith added another six points.
The Panthers fell to Hillcrest Academy on Dec. 19, 57-49. No scoring stats were available at press time from that contest. The Panthers were dominant as they were able to win 72-37. By halftime the Panthers led 46-22. They would allow just 15 points in the second half of the game.
Overall the Panthers stand at 5-2 on the season.
The Panthers are off until Jan. 2 when they play Highland at the Casey’s Center in Des Moines.
Photos by Mark Schafer
