MASSAC CO. VS. HAZELWOOD, MO. CENTRAL
MARSHALL CO. KY. HOOPFEST
12-07-02
BY JACK BULLOCK
BENTON, KY. - Still searching for answers in the backcourt, Massac County came up just a bit short in its game against St. Louis, Missouri power Hazelwood Central, 56-53, at the Marshall County High School 'Hoopfest' Saturday afternoon.

Despite hitting only 16-of-40 field goal attempts, which included paltry 3-of-15 from beyond the 3-point line, the Patriots nearly pulled out a win.

Massac had a shot late in the game to tie things up; only a long running 3-pointer from Aaron Bowman fell short at the buzzer.

In a game that saw four ties and ten lead changes, the Hawks improved to 4-1 on the season.

Central got things going early as they let fly a barrage of 3-point attempts to try and open up some things on the inside for 6-7 senior center Kalen Grimes.

Ryan Reese, a 5-11 guard, hit a pair of 3-pointers to make the score 6-1 early. But the Patriots hung tough early with all five starters getting on the scoreboard in the first quarter for coach Joe Hosman.

Bowman's first '3-pointer' of the day, along with a short baseline jumper by Dominique Petty, gave the Patriots a 13-12 lead with :47 left in the quarter.

But Central guard Brandon Ruffin found himself open at the top of the key and his 3-pointer just beat the buzzer for a 15-13 lead for the Hawks.

Matt Jacobs put the Patriots back in front to start the second quarter, scoring in the paint while being fouled by HC's Zac Riley. His made free throw made it 16-15 Massac.

The Patriots held the lead until the end of quarter as the schools exchanged scoring jabs.

Two free throws by Ruffin and a single charity toss by Reese pulled the Hawks even at 20-all with 4:25 left.

A Rob Fickert basket on a nice pass from Petty put Massac back up 22-20. Grimes then scored on a drive in the lane as Massac's Rob Fickert fouled him. But he missed the free throw, which left the score tied at 22.

Ruffin hit his next shot, which was also a 3-pointer, to make it 25-22.

Then Rogers scored on a lay in while being fouled with 1:48 left before halftime.

He missed the free throw, which would have tied the game again.

On their next possession, the Patriots held the ball the last :38 seconds of the half. But the shot that they got was an off-balanced one by Bowman that was well off the mark.

In the third quarter Grimes, who had been held in check in the first half, made his presence known early.

After a Rogers tip-in of a Jacobs miss put Massac back up by a point, Grimes got the ball in the lane and proceeded to power down a 'two-handed' dunk to give the lead back to Hazelwood Central.

"He (Grimes) is a big, strong kid but we did a pretty good job on him for the most part." said Hosman, whose team has struggled so far this season.

The lead changed hands five more times in the quarter, but Hazelwood's Aaron Jackson's hit a pair of 3-pointers, the last one of the two gave the Hawks a 41-36 advantage with 1:05 left.

Massac's Bowman responded with a 3-pointer of his own with :08 left to make it 41-39 heading into the final quarter.

The final frame started well for the Patriots with Petty hitting a left-handed runner along the baseline to give his team a 42-41 advantage.

But a 10-0 run during a nearly four minute span put the Hawks ahead for good.

Jackson scored again, this time on a 15-footer near the foul line, to make it 43-42. Grimes added a free throw and a rebound basket sandwiched around a Jackson free throw.

Then Jackson again hit a 15-footer to balloon the lead up to 51-42.

Petty finally answered the run for the Patriot cause with a bucket at the 3:37 mark.

A Rogers' block of a shot by Jackson in the paint led to a Petty score that cut the lead back to 51-46.

After a turnover by the Hawks, Petty gave the Massac County fans something to cheer about as he took a skip pass from Bowman and launched a 3-pointer that found the bottom of the net to cut it to 51-49 with 2:34 remaining.

Ruffin hit a pair of free throws with 2:04 left to get the Hawks lead back to four at 53-49.

After a turnover by each team on consecutive possessions, Massac had a trip down the court that pretty much summed up the game and the Patriots season so far.

Fickert, Petty and Bowman all had open looks at the basket on shots created by offensive rebounds. However each player missed and eventually Hazelwood Central got the ball back.

Riley went to the free throw line for the Hawks with a chance to widen the advantage.

But he missed the 'one-and-one' opportunity and Massac got the ball back. Fickert made a move after getting an offensive rebound and Grimes picked up his fifth personal foul with :29.4 seconds left. Fickert hit both charities to cut the lead down to 53-51.

After getting fouled on the subsequent inbounds play Central's Kyle Hamilton, who had just entered the game for the first time in the second half, hit two important free throws to put his team up four with :28.6 left.

Massac had a chance to quickly score but Jackson made a big steal on a tipped pass and got it to Hamilton, who was fouled again. He made 1-of-2 free ones and the lead looked comfortable at 56-51 with just :19.5 left.

However Jacobs scored in the lane with :11.5 left and Massac burned its last timeout.

The Patriots then fouled on the inbounds again, this time sending Jackson to the line with a chance to 'ice' the game with the super bonus in effect.

However he missed both free throws to give Massac one last chance.

After ths second toss charomed off of the rim, the ball ended up in the lane on the court and, after a scramble took away some valuable time, Bowman managed to drive up the court to launch a 25-footer that was way off the mark at the buzzer.

Petty led all scorers with 21 points (and seven rebounds) for the Patriots. Fickert scored nine points while leading his team with 11 rebounds.

The Patriots out rebounded the much bigger Hawks 35-29.

Game MVP Jackson led Central with 15 points while Grimes added 14.

Massac County (2-4) is playing without 6-2 senior Daniel Shannon, who is still nursing a football injury and won't be back for another couple of weeks.

"We are just not very good right now," explained Hosman. "We are young and inexperienced and we really miss not having Daniel Shannon around right now. He (Shannon) played point guard for us all summer. I think by the end of this season, we may be pretty good. We had a chance to win this game late but we are still learning."