But that was all but forgotten after his team made one big play after another in the last three minutes of the game to earn a 57-55 home victory. A drive toward the basket for a soft one-hander by Garry Hailey with 25 seconds to play produced the deciding points.
Brandon Cain, another one of the playmakers down the stretch, and Stephone Covington led the home team, now 10-11 overall, with 12 points apiece. Brandon Evans led the Wolves, 13-8 overall, with 16.
For much of the contest, before another large Friday night crowd, it appeared the Patriots might be headed for a fourth straight Mid-Southeastern Conference defeat. Instead, with a victory at Jack Britt Saturday night, a tall order, the Patriots now 5-6 in the league, would move into a tie for fourth place with the Wolverines and Hoke County.
But let’s take this one from the top. On an evening that he was missing starting center Antwon Murchison because of a back injury, the Patriot coach decided to address some of the causes of his team’s recent slide.
“I made a decision tonight that some of the things we’ve been doing wrong were going to be corrected by taking away some minutes,” he said. “We were making some mistakes we shouldn’t be making and they know that. They were frustrated and I was frustrated. One of my jobs as a coach is to figure some way to end some of that frustration. After the onset of that, I thought the guys responded pretty well.”
Chris Nelson, one of those off the bench, pulled his team within a point at 19-18 with a 12-foot jumper midway through the second period. Later he helped draw his team even at 25-25 with a drive to the basket with his right-hand on one possession and a drive with the other hand on the next.
Deadlocked at 27-27 at halftime, three baskets by Hilary McLaurin sparked a 10-3 run that put the Pats in front 37-30 early in the third period. But the Wolves finished the quarter with a 15-4 spurt to take a 45-41 lead.
The margin was still four points when Cain sank two at the charity stripe making it 51-49 Wolves with 3:55 left in the game. The two teams were never be separated by more than two points the rest of the way. Neither team made many mistakes.
The Patriots appeared to regain the lead when McLaurin swished one from behind the arc, but he was called for steps. But on the next Pat possession, Arvetra Jones threw an 85-yard pass to Muhsin Muhammad, no make that an 85-foot pass to Cain, tying the game at 51-51 with 2:50 to play. A minute later, with the Wolves back in front 53-52, McKnight grabbed a Cain miss at the foul line and put his team in front 54-53.
Westover took a time out with 1:10 on the clock as the fans on both sides applauded the tumbling performances by the cheerleaders. The Wolves patiently passed around the Pinecrest zone until DeShaune Griffin connected with the cutting Anthony Wall, who was fouled hard attacking the basket. Amid the din of the crowd he made both free throws putting his team back in front.
After a timeout, Hailey, who had only one other basket in the game, took possession on the Westover side of the court and took it all the way to the basket.
“I was looking at what the defense gave me,” he said. “Hilary (McLaurin) is a great offensive player and most of the attention went to Hilary and Charles (McKnight). I saw I had a lane to the basket.”
The junior guard attacked the one defender and lofted a one-hander from about eight feet away that dropped gently into the net with 25 seconds remaining.
“He didn’t hesitate, did he?” Apple said. “He’s been struggling a little offensively, but he’s played as good defensively as any one on the team the last couple of weeks.”
On a night that he went five for five from the field, Cain took care of the Wolves last serious challenge on the defensive end. When the Wolves’ Brandon Halligan drove to the basket for the lead, the 6-foot-5, 240-pound center took the charge.
“Brandon is an intelligent basketball player,” his coach said. “The only thing stopping Brandon is Brandon some times. When he makes up his mind to do the things we want him to do, he’s a heckuva player.”
After McKnight made one of two at the line, the Wolves drove for a game-ending field goal attempt that was wide right.
A happy Cain said that his coach talked to the team before the game about everybody giving some extra in Murchison’s absence. The junior responded with his best performance as a varsity player.
“At the beginning of the year, I wasn’t playing well,” he said. “Losing weight (about 10 pounds) has made me faster and helped me coordination wise.”
The Patriots, who have now won five of eight games decided by five points or less, made half of their 48 shots from the field to an ice-cold 19 of 55 for the visitors. They complete the regular season next week with the final home game (Senior Night) against Seventy-First on Tuesday (7:30 p.m.) and a game at Douglas Byrd on Friday.
The Patriot junior varsity boys’ team fell to 15-6 and 6-5 with a 63-61 loss at Westover.
Westover 13 14 18 10 — 55
Pinecrest 6 21 14 16 — 57
Westover — Griffin 3 0-0 6, Williams 2 0-0 4, Evans 4 7-8 16, Ferguson 1 2-2 5, Gilbert 2 4-4 8, Wall 5 2-2 12, Halligan 2 0-0 4, Riggins 0 0-0 0, Richardson 0 0-0 0. Totals - 19 15-16 55.
Pinecrest — Hailey 2 0-0 4, McLaurin 5 0-0 11, McKnight 4 1-3 9, Covington 4 4-4 12, Chalmers 1 0-0 2, Cain 5 2-3 12, Jones 0 1-4 1, Nelson 3 0-0 6, S. Lewis 0 0-0 0, Lapping 0 0-0 0. Totals - 24 8-14 57.
Three-point goals: Westover 2 (Evans, Ferguson); Pinecrest 1 (McLaurin).
