PENDLETON — The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat were on full display as Lapel and Pendleton Heights battled on the Arabian home court in boys basketball action Friday.
Bulldog Noah Frazier was not the leading scorer, but he was the big scorer as he dropped a 3-pointer with less than two seconds to play, sinking the Arabians quest for a win with a 49-46 final score.
“I’m awful proud of Noah,” Bulldog coach Jimmie Howell said. “He’s struggled to shoot the ball this year.”
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Frazier had hit few baskets so far this season but his effort netted seven for the night.
Teammate Bryce Carpenter had a double-double with 14 points and 14 rebounds.
“We’ve got several different kids who can step up and win games for us,” Howell said. “We don’t just have two or three. We’ve got seven or eight, and that’s awfully important.”
It was heartbreaking for the Arabians because they the led the entire game. They were up by 9 at one point in the final minutes and maintained a 5-point lead with less than two minutes left to play in the game.
Lapel’s Kolby Bullard, who led Lapel scoring with 16, began the Bulldog comeback after he hit two from the line to close the gap.
After the teams traded free throws, Carpenter hit back-to-back 3s to bring the Bulldogs to within 2 points— 44-42.
After being fouled, Arabian Luke Candiano hit both shots from the line, but Lapel’s Bullard hit another 3 to cut the Arabian lead to 46-45, and after Ethan Ross missed from the free throw line, Frazier took the ball and shot to give the Bulldogs the lead in the final two seconds.
“Every game we’ve had a period of time where we’ve missed five in a row or nine of ten, but when they get squared up, they’re good shooters,” Howell said. “We’re not at full strength yet; eventually we’ll be scoring inside and become a much better team.”
“We played the last three minutes with some intensity,” Howell said. “The rest of the game we just went through the motions. We were very tentative throughout the night.”
While the Arabians controlled much of the game, they faltered at the line hitting just eight of 18, and Coach Kevin Bates said in the future, that statistic among others has to change.
“Hopefully, we learn from this. We better learn how to win or it’s going to be a long season. With that kind of shooting, you can’t win games.”
“We had that game won,” Bates said, but repeated bad drives, and bad shot selection flipped the advantage to the Bulldogs.
In the first quarter, Arabian Tristan Ross owned the scoring with 11 of the Arabians points when the period ended with a 15-9 Pendleton Heights lead.
Ross, however, scored just once in the remaining minutes of the game.
The Bulldogs ended the first half tying the score at 24 but scored on 2 points in the third quarter. However, bad shot selection hindered both teams as no one scored until 2:51 remaining in the third, when Jamison Dunham hit a 3. Dunham led Arabian scoring with 20.
The youth of the Arabians has been a factor in the opening games of the season.
“With a young team you’re going to have growing pains, and that’s exactly what happened,” Bates said. “It’s not an effort thing, it’s a between the ears thing.”
The Arabians rotated guards all night, but Bates said that’s another aspect of their game that has to improve.
“They’ve got to know the situation, time, score and what to do. We practice that.”
At 1-2, the Arabians host Mt. Vernon on Dec. 13 and Connersville on Dec. 14.
The Bulldogs are 4-0 and are on the road Dec. 13 at Wapanhani and at Muncie Burris on Dec. 14.