Pioneers Sink Wolves Colors Day

LINCOLN — Gentry coach Sean Price faced assistant Tyler McReynolds, put both hands on McReynolds’ shoulders and calmly said, “And one,” while gritting his teeth and smiling simultaneously.

Gentry senior CJ Taylor sank both ends of the one-and-one free throws to lift the Pioneers to a 53-46 victory on Friday, Jan. 15.

“CJ hadn’t been shooting his free throws very well,” Price said. “We needed him there, so that’s why I said that to my assistant … That was a huge key for us winning.”

Price promptly called a timeout after Taylor’s second made free throw gave Gentry (11-5, 4-2 4A-1 Conference) a three-point lead, 47-44, with 1 minute, 4 seconds remaining in regulation.

It was a spirited, physical game throughout, and Price easily could have matched the game’s intensity by whooping and hollering to keep his players fired up.

Instead, he calmly drew up a play on a dry erase board. It was his second, full timeout in the final 2:12. He didn’t shout or yell during the first one, either.

“We tried to stay calm tonight,” Price said. “With it being their (Colors Day), we knew they were going to be fired up and go on runs and make shots — and they did.

“I told them, ‘ Let’s just stay with our game plan. Don’t get rattled and let’s overcome these situations.’ We did a really good job of staying focused on that tonight; Being patient and letting it happen.”

Behind nine points from a fired- up Garrett Blankenship, Lincoln ( 5- 11, 0- 6) outscored Gentry 19-14 in the second quarter to take a 26-25 lead into the locker room. But the Pioneers began doubling down on Blankenship to keep the 6-foot-2, 210-pound senior post player scoreless the rest of the game.

Price said the plan coming into the game was to try to neutralize Blankenship by playing a defender behind and in front of him while denying the entry pass. That essentially neutralize the Wolves’ offense, according to sixth-year coach Tim Rich.

“We were wanting to play insideout all night,” Rich said. “But they increased their pressure on the ball and stuck around (Blankenship) a little better, which made it tougher for us to get him the ball in there.”

Gentry senior Matt Juillerat hit all six of his free throw attempts in the final 43.5 seconds to seal the win. He paced four Pioneers in double figures with 13.

All three of Juillerat’s trips to the line were in one-and-one situations.

“We hadn’t shot free throws very well this year and we were 11 of 13,” Price said. “So that was good for them to make those free throws in a pressure situation.”

Girls