Dale Mabrey is still waiting to see what his Pleasure Ridge Park Panthers will look like when they’re all together. For now, the Panthers’ legendary coach has a gritty squad.
PRP’s Trey Hill (12) drives in for a layup during the first half of their game against Butler at Valley High School, Friday, Dec. 09, 2016 in Louisville KY. (Timothy D. Easley/Special to the C-J)
Thanks in part to a strong first half from junior guard Gerald Gray and a standout second half from junior guard Trey Hill, the Panthers were able to overcome an early deficit to rally past the Doss Dragons, 51-47 on Thursday night in a Sixth Region boys basketball tilt on Derek Anderson Court.
“That was a hard fought battle and it’s always a great game against Doss,” said Mabrey, who was missing three players. “We’ve had so many adversaties this year, we still have yet to have our whole team together. This whole season, we’ll get pieces back and then we’ll have more injuries.”
Among the Panthers’ absentees were sophomore guard Cashawn Beasley (two teeth pulled), junior forward Jordan Wallace (knee injury) and junior guard Tyler Redmon (sick). Gray and Hill did an admirable job picking up their slack.
“It’s one thing after another, but we just keep battling,” Mabrey said. “But I just can’t ask anymore because we keep battling and battling and battling.”
The Panthers (11-8), third in the 19-team region’s Litkenhous Ratings, were able to battle behind the play of Gray and Hill. Gray had 16 points and was the only Panther to score in the first quarter, when PRP (11-8) trailed 14-12. Hill, who scored the Panthers’ final 10 points of the third quarter, finished with a team-high 18 points.
“Trey could be special every game like that,” Mabrey said. “Trey wants to get his teammates involved so bad, and I applaud that, but sometimes, as great as he is, it’s just time to go.”
That time came in the third quarter, when the Panthers went from being down seven late in the first half to leading 32-30 with 1:49 left in the third period on a drive by Hill. It was PRP’s first lead since 5-3 in the game’s opening 4 minutes.
In spite of going nearly 10 minutes without a field goal in the second half, Doss (13-8) had a chance to force overtime in the final minute. Doss senior wing Jaylon Hall hit his sixth 3-pointer of the game — and fourth of the fourth quarter alone — to pull the Dragons within 50-47 with 12 seconds left. PRP immediately turned the ball over in the backcourt and following back-to-back timeouts, Doss missed a 3-pointer from the right wing with 8 seconds left. PRP came down with the rebound and Hill was fouled with .7 seconds left. He made the first free throw to ice it.
Hall finished with a game-high 20 points, while senior guard Cameron Maddox had 11 points for the Dragons, ranked fourth in the region’s Lit Ratings.
PRP attempted as many free throws (eight) in the final 64 seconds as the Dragons did all game, a fact not lost on Doss coach Tony Williams.
“I’d like to see the free throw count, because that’s interesting as well,” Williams said. “If you look back at all of our games, don’t just look at the wins and losses, but look at the free throw counts. If we go in there and we get hacked and there’s no call and they go in there and get fouled and they call it, that’s definitely not something that I can control or my kids can control.”
The Dragons can’t control their short turnaround, either. Doss travels to Campbellsville on Saturday to play Tennessee power Grace Christian in the annual Clem Haskins Classic.
“I told them to keep their heads up because we don’t even have time to be upset about this,” Williams said. “We’ve got one day of practice and then we’ve got to get ready for a team we don’t know a whole lot about.”
PLEASURE RIDGE PARK 51, DOSS 47
PLEASURE RIDGE PARK (11-8)
Trey Hill 18p; Gerald Gray 16p; BJ Robinson 9p; Darius Osborne 6p; Cyncer Wilson 2p.
DOSS (13-8)
Jaylon Hall 20p; Cameron Maddox 11p; Stephon Franklin 8p; Terez Traynor 4p; Jeremiah Boyd 2p; Shawnkel Knight-Goff 2p.