Bearcats take a step back in loss to Peebles

BAINBRIDGE - Revenge is a dish best served cold.

Last year, Paint Valley spoiled Peebles’ undefeated season, knocking off the Indians 76-73 on their own home floor.

Fast forward a year later, and the Indians got their payback as they handed the Bearcats a 69-51 loss Saturday night.

“Defensively, we weren’t ready to play and I take full responsibility for that,” Paint Valley coach Dave Shoemaker said. “I’ve tried yelling, constructive criticism, hugging, giving guys pats on the back and ultimately it’s my job to get our guys to play harder. And for whatever reason, we weren’t mentally ready to go in this game. I’ll continue to work and try everything I know to get us to play better, but we didn’t look good tonight.”

Peebles couldn’t miss to start the game. They made their first four shots, including two shots from downtown, and held the early 9-5 lead with 5:45 to go. After back-to-back baskets by each team, Paint Valley (3-17, 2-11 SVC) strung together a 9-0 run to take the lead at 17-12 with 2:18 to play. Peebles scored four straight points to end the quarter, but Paint Valley held the slight 17-16 advantage.

In the second quarter everything started to go downhill for the Bearcats. It all started with the 6-foot-11 Dylan Swingle picking up his second foul with a little more than seven minutes to play in the half. He would watch the rest of the quarter on the bench, and Peebles began to attack.

“People are still having trouble officiating him because he’s so big,” Shoemaker said. “It hurt that we had to take him out and I think sometimes people forget that just because he’s big doesn’t mean he can’t be fouled and just because he is big doesn’t mean he fouls. He’s just massive and when they see guys bouncing off of him, they’ll call a foul, but that’s still no excuse. We have to play better.”

The Indians’ fast-paced offensive combined with their ball movement led to easy baskets at the rim. However, the Bearcats stayed within an arm’s reach, answering each Peebles’ basket with one of their own. The Indians had the final say, though, as they ended the half on a 6-0 run to take a 35-28 lead into the break.

Everything came crashing down in the second half for the Bearcats. It was clear that Peebles didn’t forget what happened last year, and they started out the third quarter on an 8-0 run to blow the game open at 43-28 with 5:38 remaining.

“They wanted to beat us and our kids weren’t up for the challenge,” Shoemaker said. “I’ve told them before that in basketball, things can change in the blink of an eye. You have to come focused every night and for whatever reason we weren’t ready and I won’t lie, it’s disappointing. After last night (Friday night), we were in a great place and now we’re not in a good place.”

From that point on, Peebles was a well-oiled machine and the Bearcats simply had no answer. It was one back-door cut after another, one three-pointer after another, which led to the Indians owning the lead 52-39 after the third quarter. Peebles cruised to victory from there.

“On a scale of 1-10, I’d give us a three, we did not compete,” Shoemaker said. “In basketball, you have to play hard and smart at the same time. Toward the end of the game, we were playing hard, but we didn’t play smart, which was evidenced by all the layups we gave up. Until we can combine the two, we’re going to have trouble beating anybody.”

Peebles shot 27-for-46 from the floor, for 59 percent; 8-for-13 from deep, 61 percent; and 7-for-12 at the free throw line, 58 percent.

Paint Valley shot 17-for-51 from the floor, 33 percent; 7-for-19 from three-point range, 36 percent; and 6-for-12 from the charity stripe, 50 percent.

Swingle led the Bearcats, posting a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Anthony McFadden, fresh off of scoring his 1,000th point Friday, logged 14 points, five rebounds and five assists, while Purdum had 11 points.

Paint Valley will look to turn their ship around Tuesday when they travel to play Portsmouth Clay.

“We should have beaten Adena (Friday night) and Southeastern the week before,” Shoemaker said. “If we win Tuesday night, Saturday night and then the sectional tournament, no one will remember the regular season. My teams in the past have always finished strong and we’ll continue to keep working. We still have a chance to turn it around, but time is running thin.”