John Bruce, Staff Writer
Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.
ALBANY — If there’s one thing that’s true about Peebles this season, it’s that the Indians have a bevy of scoring options.
Despite leading scorer Bo Johnson being unable to go on Friday night, the Indians still saw nine players grace the scoring column, giving them the ability to continuously run.
And they like to run … a lot.
And, on the defensive end, they constantly pressured Athens’ ball-handlers throughout the contest.
CREDIT: Raymond Gleadle/SOSA
By utilizing that free style of play, the smothering defense and a deep bench, Peebles (8-0) managed to stay perfect on the season with a 68-56 win over the Bulldogs in the Spartan Classic.
“We’re an offense that is very fast-paced, which helps us get a lot of layups and transition shots. But that can be a blessing as well as a curse,” Peebles’ Paxton Ryan said. “There were times we had to slow ourselves down and run a half-court offense, and that’s credit to Athens’ defense since we haven’t had to do that much this season. But we managed to speed the game back up again and get back into an offensive rhythm to help us close out the game.”
The Indians jumped all over Athens with a barrage of triples from Josh McClary, Paxton Ryan and Connor Gross, all before getting the ball inside to Keegan Puckett for a pair for scores.
Athens (3-5) got a put back basket to beat the horn in the first quarter from Jaxon Warner, but Peebles controlled the game with a 17-9 lead.
The Indians kept the game at their desired pace throughout the first half, getting quick offense and deploying seniors Colyn Sims and Grady Knechtly defensively to make life difficult for the Bulldogs.
“Colyn does things his way, and we let him go however he sees fit. He knows he has five fouls to use, and he’s going to use all five if he has to,” Ryan said. “He’s a great guy to have on your team and he just wants to shut down a team’s best player. Grady is the exact same way. They both don’t care if they score. They just play the game and make impacts. Colyn deserves way more credit than he gets for sure.”
As Athens’ Zach Mullins was slowed with foul trouble, the Bulldogs needed to get scoring from the outside to stay in the game.
Luckily for the Bulldogs, Collin Chapman, Wren Ballew and Luke Robey all knocked down treys in the opening half, keeping them within striking distance at 34-24 going into halftime.
PHOTOS: Images from Peebles’ win over Athens
The Bulldogs were able to force the game a little bit more into their own tempo in the third with Mullins scoring five and Chapman scoring six, helping to cut the lead to 45-41 after three.
However, Mullins picked up his fourth foul late in the frame, opening the door for Puckett to take over the game for Peebles.
“It’s definitely nice to have someone who is 6-foot-5 in the post who can bang inside against other players,” Ryan said of Puckett’s addition to the team. “We’re able to get some post touches, let him go to work on the inside and do what he does. He’s set great screens, plays with great footwork and finishes strong at the rim, so he’s been a great addition to the team.”
The freshman put on an impressive display of footwork on the interior to score in the post, while also showing the ability to shoot from midrange. He even knocked down a triple in the final quarter as the Indians slowly pulled away.
A late flurry of offense from McClary, including 10 fourth-quarter points, helped hold off hot shooting from Chapman and Robey late as the Indians walked away with a win.
“Even though I’m 6-foot-4, I can’t do what I do on the inside without those guys on the outside knocking down shots,” Puckett said. “Not having Bo hurt us a little bit, but thankfully, Josh stepped up and knocked down a lot of shots tonight.”
Puckett led all scorers with 21 points, while McClary dropped 18 of his own. Ryan joined in double figures with 11.
Chapman led the Bulldogs with 19 points, including a trio of triples, while Warner scored 12 and pulled down a game-high nine boards. Robey came off the bench to score 11 for Athens, knocking down three triples of his own.
Peebles returns to action on Tuesday at home in a SHAC showdown against unbeaten Eastern Brown, while Athens travels to Nelsonville-York that same evening.
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