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SHRUB OAK, N.Y. - Peekskill was leading by 15 points midway through the fourth quarter against Lakeland and appeared to be on its way to a comfortable win. However, that changed dramatically.
Lakeland shot its way back into the game, slowly whittling the lead away and putting Peekskill on the foul line. The Hornets did what they needed to do, but the Red Devils would not give in.
Peekskill came away with a 69-60 victory, Friday, thanks to clutch free-throw shooting in the games final 90 seconds.
Chandler Pierce, who finished with a game-high 18 points, went 6 for 6 from the line in the final quarter. Overall, Peekskill converted 11 of 17 free throws in the fourth.
That is something we work very hard on in practice, our free throws, Pierce said. We work on it before practice and when we shoot free throws after practice, if we miss, we have to run.
The thought of extra running after practice is not amenable to Peekskill or any basketball team.
Peekskill (5-1) hiked its lead to 59-44 with just over four minutes remaining. Our defense got a little sluggish and we were not making our rotations, Pierce said.
Lakeland stormed back and closed the gap to three points, 63-60, on a Mike Tartaglia 3-pointer with 50.1 seconds remaining. On Peekskills next two possessions, Lakeland fouled Pierce and the Peekskill forward hit all four throws.
I work so hard on making free throws that I didnt want to let my team down, said Pierce, who had to contend with the home teams fans trying to rattle him with noise. Coach P. (Panzanaro) looked at me and said, This is where your hard work pays off. Peekskill had a double-digit lead in the first half, also. The Red Devils utilized their quickness, press and aggressive defense to establish the lead in the first half and later in the second half.
Lakeland (4-5) showed Peekskill that it was not going to wilt under Peekskills pressure. We battled all the way back against a top contender in Class A and went toe-to-toe with Peekskill, Tartaglia said. If we play like this the rest of the season, we will be in great shape come playoff time.
Coach said this was the best we played all season. We play them again in a few weeks in their gym and we are going to play them even harder next time.
Peekskill 18 18 13 23 -- 69Lakeland 8 11 21 20 -- 60
Peekskill (69) -- Tyler Daniel 3-1-9, Gydal Sorrell 1-0-2, Dan Casey 2-0-4, Robert Lyles 2-0-5, Chandler Pierce 6-6-18 Ramon Searight 4-0-9, Bayron Carter 0-0-0, Eddie Reeves 5-1-11, Kyree Hull 2-5-9, Courtney Mapp 1-0-2. Totals: 26-13-69 Lakeland (60) -- Matt Tartaglia 3-2-11, Alex Perlman 3-0-6, Tyler Tropperman 3-3-11, Matt Wright 1-4-6, Ben Dedvukaj 5-1-12, Dan Eremita 1-3-6, Eric Schneider 0-0-0, Ray Bozek 0-0-0, Anthony Mendoza 3-0-8, Joe Dinon 0-0-0. Totals: 19-13-60. 3-point goals -- Pk: Daniel 2, Lyles, Searight; Lk: Tartaglia 3, Mendoza 2, Dedvukaj,
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