01-17-04
PANA VS. NASHVILLE
CENTRALIA SHOOTOUT
BY JACK BULLOCK
CENTRALIA - Nashville head coach Darin Lee knew that his team needed to make some adjustments at halftime in its defensive scheme in its game Saturday against Pana.

Panthers guard Drew Casner took it to the Hornets in the first two quarters by scoring 19 points, including three 3-pointers.

The modification worked as the Hornets second half defensive effort, especially Brendan Morris on Casner and freshman Lucas O'Rear's block of Pana's Wil Beyers attempt to tie the game in the final seconds, gave the Hornets just enough to hold off the Panthers comeback attempt with a 55-52 victory at the Centralia 'Union Planters' Shootout.

Casner was held scoreless in the final 16 minutes of the game and O'Rear continues to amaze as the 6-5 kid showed composure far beyond his years on this night.

With the clock ticking down with Pana trailing by two, the Panthers worked the ball inside to Beyers on the right block.

But after making a fake, his turnaround shot was blocked and corralled by O'Rear, who instinctually called timeout with :05.8 to go.

"The main thing is that he blocked it and caught it instead of knocking the ball out of bounds," said Coach Lee. "I didn't have a problem with him calling time out although I thought he would have gotten fouled anyway."

An inbound pass found Josh Maschoff, and after being fouled by Pana, the Nashville senior made the second of two free throws with :04.2 remaining.

Pana had a chance to tie the game with a 3-pointer, but Evan Washburn's shot from the right corner sailed long over the basket as the buzzer sounded.

"He's tough one and he played extremely well, and we didn't know he was a freshman. He definitely played better than you would expect for someone that young," said Pana coach Gary Bowker about O'Rear.

The Hornets saw Casner hit from all over the court in the first half.

But the Hornets were putting up good offensive numbers as well.

Nashville jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead, on baskets by Ben Boehne and Chris Engele and a 3-point play by Maschoff.

But Pana gave the fans at Trout Gym a preview of things to come.

The Panthers battled back for the first time of the game with a nice run of their own, led by Casner who scored 11 of his teams first 13 points.

He finished off the quarter with two nice moves on the right side. His dribble drives resulted in two picture perfect baseline fade away jumpers.

The second one just beat the first quarter horn with Nashville holding a 15-13 lead.

O'Rear started making his presence known in the second quarter, scoring six points.

He converted two free throws early in the quarter while being fouled by Beyers. Pana's 6-2 senior forward had to go to the bench with his second foul at 4:50 to go before intermission.

With Beyers on the bench, O'Rear took advantage with two baskets in close. His second shot from the right block pushed the Nashville lead to 23-19.

"We knew that Nashville was big and they took advantage with Beyers out. Offensively we have to have another scorer out there and Beyers is someone that can get the big shot for us." said Bowker.

On the next Hornet possession O'Rear then found a streaking Chris Engele for a fast break lay in.
But the Panthers proved to be very pesky on this night for Nashville.

They scored the final seven points of the half to take the lead for the first time in the contest.

Mitch Ade, Pana's 6-1 senior guard, got his offensive 'grove' going late in the quarter.

He hit a pair of shots, including a 3-pointer with 1:11 left, that gave the Panthers a 26-25 advantage.

The Hornets came up empty at the end after holding the ball for a final shot.

Unfortunately for Pana, it took just :02 in the third quarter for Beyers to pick up foul number three and he was forced back to the Panthers bench.

"He is a vital part of our team and we need him on the floor and not on the bench," Bowker said.

Nashville stung the short-handed Panthers by scoring the games next nine points.

Maschoff nailed a top of the arc 3-pointer to get the run started and then Morris and Andrew Wilson each connected on shots, forcing a Pana timeout at 34-26 with 4:11 left.

Beyers returned to the game and scored on a tip-in in the paint while being fouled by Boehne on the Panthers next trip down the court. His made free throw cut the lead down to 34-29.

However the Hornets finished off the dominating third quarter effort with Engele and Maschoff scoring the next 11 Nashville points, highlighted by Maschoff's 3-point play on a drive to the basket and a beautiful fast break lay up by Engele.

Nashville whipped out the dreaded 'X-Offense' on the final possession of the quarter and Maschoff made the spread out defense of the Panthers pay when he drove the lane and scored with :18 remaining.

The Hornets outscored Pana 20-6 in the frame and were 'looking pretty as they headed into the final quarter up 45-32.

Coach Bowker's team never gave up on this night, and they got right back into the game with a scoring run of their own to start the final period.

Pana outscored Nashville 7-2 in the first 2:36 of the fourth; the run was capped by a 3-pointer by Washburn from the top of the arc.

"I was surprised that they didn't spread it more in the fourth quarter." said Coach Bowker. " We talked about putting pressure on them and took some chances on defense. We got back in the game and had a good chance at the end."

The next Pana run would get the game tied which featured a Nashville technical foul and two more made Panther 3-point shots.

While the Hornets were having trouble scoring during this stretch, Pana got hot from the field and the line.

Beyers stepped out and nailed a 3-pointer and Washburn hit two free throws, making it 51-47 with 3:29 left.

Nashville's Wilson pulled down a defensive rebound and was fouled but he was assessed a technical foul as the players walked up the court after throwing an elbow.

The 6-4 junior made 1-of-2 free throw attempts.

However Pana's Washburn made both of the technical foul shots on the other end and the Panthers got the ball back with 2:17 left.

Pana took advantage of the 'gift' by tying the game at 52-all on Beyers second 3-pointer at the 2:01.

The Panthers had a shot at getting the lead late after Engele dribbled the ball off of his foot and into the backcourt for a turnover with 1:40 left.

But after a Beyers miss, Nashville scored on its next chance with Morris scoring on a lay in to make it 54-52 heading into the final minute.

The Panthers called a timeout with :25.6 to set up a final shot.

And everything went as planned until O'Rear came up with the big play.

Nashville won its eighth-straight game on the strength of a game-high 20-points from Maschoff. Wilson and Engele each added 11.

"This is a good win against a good team," added Coach Lee. "They have good guards."

Lee later joked that "our schedule has been tough, I don't know what I was thinking in scheduling all of these games."

Casner topped Pana (15-4) with 19 while Beyers chipped in 14, despite spending a lot of time on the bench with foul difficulties.

"Morris guarding him in the second half made a difference for Casner. It was definitely a key to the game," added Bowker. "We didn't get him a lot of looks in a second half. Plus he isn't selfish and sometimes he kind of goes to sleep on us and quits taking shots because he is trying to get everyone else involved."

Pana (52) - Ade 3 1 1-1 10, Casner 4 3 1-1 19, Beyers 3 2 2-3 14, Melega 0 0 0-2 0, Washburn 1 1 4-4 9.
2FG-11, 3FG-7, FT-8-11, PF-16.
Nashville (55) - Morris 1 0 0-0 2, Maschoff 6 1 5-8 20, Engele 5 0 1-2 11, Wilson 4 0 3-4 11, Boehne 1 1 0-0 5.
2FG-17, 3FG-2, FT-9-14, PF-13.
Technical Foul - Wilson, Nashville