Guerin Catholic overcame an 11-point deficit in the first half to defeat Pendleton Heights on the Arabians’ Senior Night 71-64 in boys basketball action Friday night.
It looked like the boisterous Pendleton Heights crowd was going to have a lot to cheer about all evening, as hot shooting from senior guards Trent Miller and Justin Shupe paved the way for Arabians to run out to a 25-14 lead two minutes into the second quarter. The Golden Eagles clawed back, but after Eli Pancol’s second spectacular dunk of the half Guerin Catholic still trailed 33-24 with just over 2:00 left before halftime. But a four-point play by Jack Hansen and seven points from Zach Munson enabled GC to finish the half on an 11-2 run to get the game tied at 35-all at the halftime horn.
A quick basket by Luke Godfrey, who returned to action after missing the last four games, and a Kian Sills’ rebound basket extended the run to 15-2 as the Golden Eagles grabbed a quick 39-35 lead. PHHS tied the game one time in the third quarter at 41-all, but Munson and Hansen each made three field goals after the game was tied, and the Golden Eagles outscored the Arabians 16-9 in the third stanza to take a 53-44 lead at the quarter break.
The action got fast and furious in the fourth quarter as the Golden Eagles made 7-9 field goals but the Arabians drilled three 3-point shots. Another dunk by Pancol cut the lead to three points after two consecutive turnovers, but Godfrey calmly drilled 4-4 free throws and lay-ins on press breaking situations by Munson and Sills got the lead back up to seven, where the winning margin finished at.
Munson finished with 24 points while Hansen and Sills also scored in double figures with 20 and 16 points, respectively. Meanwhile Shupe finished with 19 points and five assists for Pendleton Heights. Miller ended with a hard-earned 17 points, but Godfrey made him work hard for nearly every point, said Guerin Catholic coach Pete Smith afterwards. Pancol finished with 13 points and eight rebounds, but the Golden Eagles outrebounded PH 26-20 as Hansen grabbed eight and Sills and Munson each had five caroms.
“We saw the floor well tonight, and read scoring opportunities well,” said Smith. Sills and Hansen each had five assists, and Godfrey added four. “Having Luke back really helped, with Clay (Hepp) and Bernie McGuinness getting into foul trouble.” Hepp found a way to distribute three assists but the point guard was saddled with three fouls in only seven minutes of action in the first half, and the sophomore McGuinness picked us two quick fouls in the first quarter.
For the game the Golden Eagles shot 63.6 percent from the field but did commit 13 turnovers of which 10 were Arabians’ steals. Smith’s squad improves to 14-8 on the season, and will travel to Anderson Tuesday night to end the regular season.
Guerin Catholic 71, Pendleton Heights 64
Guerin Catholic FG FT TP PF
Kian Sills 7-7 0-0 16 1
Bernie McGuinness 0-2 0-0 0 2
Clay Hepp 0-1 0-0 0 2
Zach Munson 11-15 2-3 24 3
Jack Hansen 7-14 5-7 20 2
Luke Godfrey 2-3 4-4 9 2
Drew Thieme 1-2 0-0 2 0
Roc Ricker 0-0 0-0 0 0
Josh Osborn 0-0 0-0 0 0
Totals 28-44 11-14 71 12
Score by Quarters
Guerin Catholic 14 21 16 20 – 71
Pendleton Heights 17 18 9 20 – 64
Guerin Catholic 3-point shooting (4-8) Sills 2-2, Hansen 1-3, Godfrey 1-2, McGuinness 0-1.
Guerin Catholic rebounds (26) Hansen 8, Sills 5, Munson 5, Godfrey 3, McGuinness 2, team 3.