With playoffs looming, PG and L-E battle to the end
Hawks escape with 62-58 win
TEXARKANA, Texas — Two teams scrabbling for a playoff berth battled to the final seconds before Pleasant Grove pulled out a 62-58 win over Liberty-eylau on Friday night at Hawk Gym.
A game that featured high-energy defense, acrobatic drives, long bombs, and passionate fans on both sides of the court came down to one calm senior, PG’S Torion Phillips, who calmly dropped in five of six free throws in the fourth quarter to hold off the fast-closing Leopards.
“I’ve been doing this for four years,” said Phillips with a chuckle. “I knew I had to lock it down and make sure we got this win.”
The win moved PG to 3-2 and in the thick of the battle for four 15-4A playoff spots. Sulphur Springs leads the district at 5-0. Paris (3-1) and North Lamar (2-2) play today. L-E dropped to 1-4, a game ahead of last-place Pittsburg.
Phillips led all scorers with 18 points. Junior guard Keighston King added 16, including a three-pointer midway through the fourth quarter that gave the Hawks a nine-point lead. Carlos Ford led the Leopards with 14 points, and Kaydrean Blaylock had 13 – six in the final stanza.
“I love these guys,” said L-E coach Billy Brewer. “They played a great game. They played hard. We had a few things going against us, but we’ll be back.”
“We matched their intensity,” said PG coach Craig Collvins. “We held our composure well and played well under the boards. It was a good win.”
The game see-sawed in the first half and the lead changed hands seven times. It was tied at 12 after the first quarter. Liberty-eylau held a 26-25 lead with less than two minutes to play in the half, but Jackson Gibson hit a three-pointer with 52 seconds to play and Jaidun Scales scored after a steal to send the Hawks into the locker room up 30-26.
Pleasant Grove started the third quarter hot. Phillips hit Prinston Vaugh with a kick-out pass for a bucket and followed that with a twisting layup to make it an eight-point game. It was 4740 going into the final stanza.
The Hawks were up by eight halfway through the final stanza, but Markus Smith and Dequan Prevo hit backto-back treys to make it 59-56 with 1:32 to play.
Collvins instructed his team to tighten the perimeter on defense and keep the ball in Phillips’ hands on offense. With L-E in the bonus, any foul meant two shots.
With 1:09 to play, Prevo ran into Phillips, who promptly dropped in both from the charity stripe to put the Hawks up by five.
Carlos Ford answered with a bucket. The Leopards, down three, got the ball back with 31 seconds to play. Ford launched a three-point shot from the top of key, but it bounced off the rim and over the backboard with nine seconds to play.
Pleasant Grove hosts North Lamar on Tuesday. L-E travels to Pittsburg.