BY JACK BULLOCK
CRAB ORCHARD – Figuring out how to win close ballgames is a learned skill and not something that comes naturally to most young kids playing high school basketball.

But for head coach Zach Essex and his Joppa Rangers, the learning curve is getting smaller by the day.

Jumping out to a early lead, the Rangers held off a second half rally from Pope County and survived a last-second field goal attempted the hit the rim and did everything but fall through the hoop to win the second game on Tuesday night at the Crab Orchard Turkey Tournament.

Behind 20-points from 5-foot-11 junior Thomas Kendall, including 6-of-6 from the foul line and with 4-of-4 in the fourth quarter, Joppa improved to 2-0 on the season and the event with a 45-43 victory.

“Last year we wouldn't have gotten this win. Last season we gave up six fourth quarter leads that turned into losses. With time comes experience and with experience comes maturity,” said Coach Essex. “Yes we did make some mistakes down the stretch. I thought offense was going to win this game but defense prevailed.”

Despite being outrebounded by the taller Pirates and coughing up a double-digit first quarter lead, the Rangers have a chance at winning the tournament for the first time.

Although no other Ranger player reached double-digits in the low scoring affair, three other players hit big shots in the contest.

Six-foot-two senior Hunter Johnson added seven points to the total and none were bigger than his conventional three-point play that gave the Rangers back the lead for good with 1:25 left in the game.

He took a nice assist from senior Kaleb Cox for a score and when his free throw found the mark, Joppa took back the lead 41-39.

“We hit some shots. We have concentrated on our offense this year, where everyone knows the plays and where they should be. We have made it as simplistic as possible,” said Coach Essex. “The boy's have a knack of finding the open man. We didn't know how to hold a lead. With experience we are learning to do this. They have put in the hard work.”

Cox and 6-foot-1 sophomore Griffin Greer added five points apiece in the triumph.

For Pope County, head coach Jim Simmons has been looking for improvement from his club and he saw some on Tuesday night despite the loss.

He got 13-points and 13-rebounds from 6-foot-6 senior Jacob Floyd and 12-points from his 6-foot-4 junior brother Josh Floyd.

Jacob Floyd, at times, gave Joppa a lot of trouble before fouling out late in the fourth quarter.

The Pirates had a final chance to tie the game as they ran an out of bounds play with :03.9 left.

Taking a lob pass in the lane by design, Josh Floyd launched a shot in the lane that looked good on release before the final horn.

But as the horn sounded the ball bounced three times on the rim only to fall harmlessly to the floor, securing the Joppa victory.

“We had a nice look on the inbounds play. I wasn't sure if we could make the pass but we called the lob and he (Floyd) caught it and got an awful fine look. But it didn't go in. It bounced around but it didn't go in. That's just one of those things,” said Coach Simmons. “I think we will get better and better as the year goes.”

The Rangers could have put the Pirates away early but some turnovers in the second quarter kept Joppa from pulling away.

Coach Essex team led 14-4 at the first horn after a 7-0 run to close the frame.

Baskets by Kendall and Cox and 3-of-4 free throws by Kendall and sophomore Jase Hutchison, put the Rangers up by ten.

Pope County cut that lead in half by the halftime buzzer, with Joppa committing seven of its 15 turnovers in that eight minute stretch.

The problem for Coach Simmons was his club committed six-turnovers of their own in the quarter.

Jacob Floyd scored twice in the paint for Pope, with his second score narrowing the gap to 18-13.

Each team added a free throw in the last two minutes and the two teams headed to the lock-rooms at 19-14 Rangers.

Senior Nic Campbell of Pope County provided a spark in the third quarter, nailing a pair of 3-point bombs from the left corner for his only six-points of the game.

When 5-foot-8 sophomore guard Matthew Davis hit on a shot from the left side of the lane with :31 left in the third, Pope trailed just 30-27 heading to the fourth.

A free throw by Davis and another bucket by Jacob Floyd on an offensive board, tied the game at 30-all with 6:30 left.

After a pair of Kendall free throws for Joppa put the Rangers back on top, both Floyd's scored on consecutive trips to grab their first lead since the opening minute.

Josh took a pass from Davis and hit a shot in close and the following possession Jacob grabbed another offensive board and his put-back gave Pope a 34-32 lead with 4:59 to go.

In previous seasons for Coach Essex, usually losing a late lead that in the fourth quarter would lead to another loss.

However his Rangers responded and quickly got back the advantage.

Kendall hit a pair of free throws after Hutchison hit 1-of-2 to make it 35-34 Joppa.

Then on the next trip, Kendall calmly nailed a 3-point bomb from deep in the left corner to push the lead to 38-34.

Pope came right back with Jacob Floyd grabbing yet another offensive rebound, this time on his own missed shot.

His follow up turned into a three-point play.

Josh Floyd gave Pope its final lead with two free throws, with the first one getting a kind bounce before going in.

Unfortunately for Floyd and the Pirates, his final shot attempted didn't bounce in favor of the Pirates.

Pope County ruled the boards 38-29 with 11 of those rebounds coming on the offensive end.

They finished with 17-turnovers but only four in the second half.

Besides the combined 25-points from the Floyd brothers, Pope got six-points from Campbell and four-points from 6-foot-1 junior Nick Walker.

The Pirates were just 13-of-45 from the floor (28.8 percent) while Joppa was 11-of-42 (26.1 percent) in an early season game in which neither team shot the ball well.

“I think we are better this year, we are still young and we have some young guard,” said Coach Simmons. “We have experience inside but our guards are young. I think we are going to come along. I wish we would have won the game but the kids battled back.”

Joppa will play unbeaten Crab Orchard on Wednesday night in a battle of 2-0 teams while Pope will search for its first win against undefeated Elverado on the same night.

“We are practicing our poise this year, even myself. I think we are more patient and I have calmed my self down this year which I think calms them down,” said Coach Essex. “In the end, we hung tough and made some stops. I'm proud of them.” 

ELVERADO 57, DONGOLA 28
The Falcons are also off to a 2-0 start on the season thanks to a 22-8 second quarter run to break away from the winless Demons.

Sophomore Aquntez Penn drilled home 20-points to pace head coach Jacob Emling's squad while senior Sage Sarensen added 16-points for the Falcons' cause.

Dongola (0-2) was led by senior Jordon Thompson and freshman Jose Zavala with five points each.

CRAB ORCHARD 74, EGYPTIAN 39
The defending tournament champion Trojans made quick work of the Pharaohs with a first quarter onslaught that produced a 21-8 advantage as Coach Jon Brown's club cruised home in the nightcap of the second night of the 18th annual event.

Eleven different Crab Orchard players inked the book in a contest that was over at intermission.

Caleb Vaughn, a 6-foot-3 senior guard, and teammate 5-foot-10 junior Levi Vinson each notched 16-points for Crab Orchard (2-0) while two other Trojans, 6-foot-3 senior McKager Ferrell and 6-foot-4 senior Amos Beasley added 12 and 10-points in the win.

Crab Orchard, which led 42-25 at intermission, ended the drama with a 28-6 third quarter run.

Egyptian (0-2) was topped by Christian Trexler with nine points while Brandon Beasley added seven.

Crab Orchard (74) – Vaughn 6 0 4-5 16, Stephens 2 1 0-0 7, Ferrell 5 0 2-3 12, Vinson 4 2 2-2 16, Whitehead 1 0 0-0 2, Beasley 5 0 0-0 10, Schell 2 0 0-0 4, Lakotich 0 0 0-0 0, Perry 1 0 0-0 2,Holmes 0 0 0-0 0, Throgmorton 0 1 0-0 3, Powell 1 0 0-2 2, Killman 0 0 0-2 0, Hodge 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-9, 3FG-2, FT-17-25, PF-18.
Egyptian (39) – Essex 1 1 0-2 5, Trexler 3 1 0-1 9, Beasley 3 0 1-2 7, Pitts 1 0 0-4 2, Van Dommel 1 0 0-0 2, Arnhart-Powell 1 0 0-0 2, White 0 1 0-0 3, Reeves 0 0 0-0 0, Bigham 0 0 0-0 0, Fernandez 0 0 0-0 0, Curtis 2 0 1-2 5, Browning 0 0 0-0 0, Warren 0 1 0-0 3, Sissom 0 0 1-2 1.
2FG-12, 3FG-4, FT-3-13, PF-12.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – Arnhart-Powell - Egyptian.