John Bruce, Staff Writer
Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.
JACKSON — It’s been five years since the Peebles Indians played in a district championship game but that streak will end this weekend.
The Indians earned that right with a 59-50 win over Huntington on Wednesday night in the Apple City — clinching the program’s first trip to a district final since 2020.
Peebles (11-12) took advantage of some haphazard ball-handling by the Huntsmen to jump in front 16-10 after a quarter of play.
The Indians were able to score on fast breaks via Carson Reed, Josh McClary and Grady Knechtley while Huntington had issues.
Frankie Hirsch and Carson Henneberger were both sent to the bench for an extended period of time in the first half with foul trouble.
Huntington (8-15) stayed within range, though, thanks in part to a big second quarter from Eli Ary, Gabe Beardsley and Kalvin Manson.
However, late in the quarter, turnovers started to cause more issues for the Huntsmen, leading to a late 33-26 deficit.
Following a missed free throw from Huntington, Bo Johnson sent a pass out to Garrett Shiveley, who found Paxton Ryan for a midrange runner as time was about to expire to make it a 35-26 lead at the break.
Huntington upped their defensive efforts in the third quarter, but could only make up a single point of the deficit as senior Brayden Elliott grabbed an offensive board and laid it in in the closing seconds, making it 42-34 after three quarters.
The fourth saw a late push by the Huntsmen as they whittled a 44-34 lead down to 53-50 with 51.6 seconds to play.
Triples from Ary, Beardsley, Elliott and Manson kept giving the Huntsmen extra life, but Johnson, McClary and Reed combined to go 8-for-8 in the final minute of play at the foul line to keep the Huntsmen at arm’s reach. It ultimately sealed a nine-point differential for the Indians on their march back to the Convo.
Reed led the Indians statistically with 14 points, 10 rebounds and four assists while Knechtley and McClary added 13 points. Johnson, a freshman, added 10 to the team’s totals as well.
Hirsch led the Huntsmen with 12 points and eight rebounds while Manson had 11 points and seven boards. Ary and Beardsley each tallied 10 points as well.
Huntington will graduate four seniors and look to improve on a second half of the season where they went 7-5 after a 1-10 start.
The Indians will advance to Sunday’s district championship game at Ohio University’s Convocation Center where they will match up with North Adams for a third time this season.
That game, along with all of the district championship games at Ohio University, can be viewed on SOSA’s YouTube page, free of charge.
BOX SCORE
Huntington: 10-16-8-16 — 50
Peebles: 16-19-7-17 — 59
Huntington: 21-51 FG, 5-20 3Pt., 3-4 FT, 26 rebounds (Hirsch 8), 12 assists, 13 turnovers. Scoring: Hirsch 12, Manson 11, Beardsley 10, Ary 10, Elliott 5, Henneberger 2.
Peebles: 19-42 FG, 3-15 3pt., 18-26 Ft, 26 rebounds (Reed 10), 11 assists (Reed 4), 15 turnovers. Scoring: Reed 14, Knechtley 13, McClary 13, Johnson 10, Ryan 5, Browning 2, Sims 1.
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