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| 3/6/2009 11:38:00 PM | Email this article • Print this article | Pioneers squeak by Mustangs in sectional final
By Virginia Bandy
Ada Herald Editor
Even with 19 huge points from Mustang Casey Rex, Allen East couldn't overcome the Pioneers of Temple Christian in the sectional finals. The see-saw contest ended with the Pioneers on top, 41-37. Temple advances to the district semifinal in Wapak on Tuesday to face New Knoxville in the first game.
The Mustangs kept a slim lead until the last 32 seconds in the first, and then Temple finally took a two-point lead. The opening drive of the second quarter saw Rex put away a quick basket to tie it up again, 13-13. Temple answered with another two points and Rex sank another shot in response. The gap widened as Temple earned a free throw and a basket before AE could respond. Temple stretched their lead to five by the end of the first half, 26-19.
Head Coach Chris Cockerell said the team fought hard the whole game, but in the first half, "We didn't do a good enough job getting loose balls and they hurt us with the dribble penetration." He continued, "we missed a lot of shots we should have made."
Temple scored first in the third, but in the next possession, AE's Rex got fouled and sank one of two at the charity stripe, and EJ Laing grabbed the rebound and nailed a basket to keep the six point margin. The crowd and Coach Cockerell went crazy when a miss by Temple and then another shot by Rex pared the lead down to four. By the end of the quarter though, the Temple lead was again back at six and the Pioneers let the clock wind down to end the third, 34-28.
Almost four minutes passed in the fourth quarter before either team sank a shot, and it was Rex who nailed it. Rex got the Temple lead down to three when he was fouled and he made one of two free throws. Two Temple free throws and then a Blake Truex basket put the score at 36-33. Rex scored again to put the Mustangs within one point, 36-35 with 1:26 to go in the game.
Two scoreless turnovers later, at 49 seconds to go, Temple's Aaron Sutton got fouled and he sank both baskets to make the score 38-35. Truex answered quickly to put it back within one with only 8.4 seconds to go. Tyler Sutton got fouled and made both of his shots and then Allen East couldn't make anything happen when the ball was forced out of bounds. Tyler Sutton was again fouled and netted two more points to keep the Pioneers on top at the end, 41-37.
Coach Cockerell said both teams were comparable and it was a "tough way to lose." He is proud of his Mustang squad, though, who are "so much better than they were at the beginning." He gave special mention to his seniors: EJ Laing, Greg Patterson and Tony Bowers, who he didn't know if they would see much playing time this year, but "stepped up and played a lot."
"Casey Rex had a good game, and Blake Truex had a good second half; it's good to see sophomores play well," he concluded.
Rex led the Mustang scorers with 19, Laing earned nine, and Truex and Patterson netting four each.
3-pointers: Laing (1).
The Sutton brothers led Temple scoring with Tyler earning 12 and Aaron scoring nine.
3-pointers: A. Sutton (1), Brandon High (1), and Shane Holloway (1).
1 2 3 4 F
AE 11 8 9 9 37
TC 13 13 8 7 41
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