RICHMOND — The Pendleton Heights Arabians saw an unfortunate end to their season following a 48-45 loss to the Richmond Red Devils in the opening round of sectional play at Richmond, Feb. 26.
The Arabians controlled several facets of play and led throughout most of the game, but the one thing they couldn’t do was contain Red Devil Lucas Kroft, who accounted for 28 of Richmond’s points.
At halftime, the Arabians held a 28-19 lead, and going into the final quarter, they still clung to a 6-point lead, but Richmond outscored the Arabians 18-9 in the final eight minutes, and with less than a minute to go, the Red Devils tied the score at 45. The Arabians hit but 5 of 10 shots in the second half and had 10 turnovers after a first half with only one turnover.
After a Kroft basket, the Arabians were assessed a five-second inbound violation, which sent Kroft to the line. He hit the front end of a two-shot freebie, giving Richmond a 3-point lead with less than a second for the Arabians to change the game.
A missed shot sealed the game for the Red Devils to meet Mt. Vernon on Friday, March 1.
“I’m proud of them. They fought and it just stinks. You have to give Richmond credit,” coach Kevin Bates said.
Bates said he was both proud and honored to have coached his team.
“It’s a great group of kids, and I love them dearly,” he said.
While disappointed in the outcome, Bates was not disappointed in his Arabians.
“This is a basketball game, we worked hard as a team,” he said. “It stinks, because I feel we outplayed them, but they have a Division I player (Kroft). That’s the difference in the ball game.”
Damieon Warrum topped all Arabian scorers with 19 points. Christian Jones had 14.
“I feel for them,” Bates said. “I feel like we outplayed them 31 of the 32 minutes. We just didn’t get it down at the end.”
