PETAL – It’s been a rocky road at times for the Petal boys, but that road seems to be getting smoother.
The Panthers built an early double-digit lead over Gulfport Tuesday night, then rallied after the Admirals took a four-point lead in the fourth quarter, scoring a 57-55 victory in non-region basketball action at the Petal High gym.
The Panthers head into a holiday break at 7-8, while Gulfport dropped to 5-7. Coming off Friday’s win at Northwest Rankin, Petal head coach Brandon Jennings likes the way his team is trending.
“We’re super-excited about where we are right now,” said Petal coach Brandon Jennings. “You get a win over a championship-caliber program like Gulfport, we go to Northwest Rankin and win, and I thought we had a chance to win the Brandon game (a 51-48 defeat).
“That’s two teams that played for (a state title) last year. Our region is the toughest in the state. You can’t take nights off. You have to bring it every night.”
Petal came out of the locker room smoking from 3-point range. The Panthers were 8 of 13 (61.5 percent) from the field in the first quarter, including 4 of 5 from beyond the arc.
Junior Tyler Fulton swished a pair of treys, powering the Panthers on an 11-2 run that gave them a 19-8 lead. Senior Nathan Hession got a putback layup and a foul shot on an and-one to give Petal a 22-10 lead after the first quarter.
“I thought we moved the ball really well, and with Ethan Long down low, everybody’s got to sag down,” said Jennings. “I thought Tyler Fulton shot it well at the beginning of the game. Once he crosses halfcourt, he’s a threat. He doesn’t look the part, but he lives in the gym and shoots the lights out.”
That lead quickly grew to 14 points as Petal 6-foot-7 sophomore Ethan Long came off the bench and immediately asserted himself, scoring the Panthers first two baskets of the second quarter.
“I haven’t been able to play fully, with some injuries,” said Long, who led all scorers with 23 points. “I’ve been on limited minutes, but now I’m getting back into it.”
As they have all season, the Admirals turned to senior Amir Abdul-Rauf to get them out of the hole, and he did just that. Abdul-Rauf scored 12 of his team-high 21 points in the second quarter to get Gulfport on the comeback trail.
Abdul-Rauf keyed a 10-2 run that cut the deficit to six, including a pair of treys and some clutch outside shooting. However, Petal still led 32-26 at halftime.
“I was just being confident within myself,” said Abdul-Rouf. “Just knowing there was a big crowd out there, not doing anything crazy and staying true to what I’ve been doing, putting up numbers. We just came up short tonight.”
The Admirals kept the heat on in the third quarter, opening the period with an 8-2 run to tie it up 34-34 on a layup by junior Chance Gaines.
Gulfport had success in the second half attacking the backet, as the Panthers began working to take Abdul-Rauf out of the mix.
Sophomore Morris Robertson had a pair of layups and junior Kevari Fairley closed the period with a 3-ball and a 12-foot jumper from the right baseline to put the Admirals in the lead.
Petal regained the lead with a pair of foul shots, but Adbul-Rauf drew a foul and got it tied up again. Gulfport held the Panthers to just 1 of their first 8 shots in the second half.
However, Long made 4 of Petal’s last 5 shots in the third quarter on two layups and two jump shots, the second a 15-footer at the buzzer to put the Panthers back in front 44-43 heading into the fourth quarter.
“My teammates trust me,” said Long. “They know I can go one-on-one, then I have them for the kickout whenever they try to double me. I’m a good helper.”
The final period was a chess match, as the two teams probed for openings that weren’t there. Gulfport only got five shots in the fourth quarter, and the Admirals made three of them, including a 3-pointer front 49-46 midway through the period.
Petal only got three shots in the final quarter, but made all three, including conventional three-point play, as Long drove the baseline for a scoop shot, drew a foul and made the free throw to tie it back up 49-49 with 3:47 remaining.
“Amir is probably the best guard we’ll see all year,” said Jennings. “He’s a really good player. We had to start doubling him to try to get the ball out of his hands, and they did a good job of getting some easy buckets.”
Ultimately, the game was won – and lost – at the foul line. The Panthers got to the line for 14 free throws in the final four minutes, and were only 50 percent, keeping Gulfport in the game. But the Admirals couldn’t capitalize, converting just 5 of 10 free throws in the final period.
Still, Gulfport took a 54-50 lead when senior Ar’Jae Robinson earned a layup with a minute left on the clock.
Petal missed a pair of foul shots on the subsequent possession, but the Admirals turned it over on a steal, then threw the ball out of bounds after senior Peyton Lindley made two free throws for the Panthers.
That’s when Long made the play of the game.
With 20.8 seconds left, Petal junior Kingston Smith was fouled, then missed both free throws. But Long swooped in to grab the offensive rebound on the second miss and get a putback layup to tie the game 54-54.
Gulfport was fouled at the other end, but Robinson missed both free throws, then fouled Long at the other end. Long made both free throws, putting Petal ahead for good with 14.8 seconds left.
The Admirals got what they wanted on the ensuing possession, a foul on Fairley on a shot in the paint with 5.9 seconds remaining, but he missed the first foul shot and made the second.
“You’ve got to take care of the basketball in those situations and you’ve got block out on missed free throws,” said Gulfport coach Steve Hesser. “Those two things came up and got us at the end.”
Lindley was fouled immediately with 3.3 seconds left, making the first free throw and missing the second, which worked in the Panthers’ favor, because Gulfport was unable to gain possession of the ball in time to get a final shot off.
“I thought we did a great job of dealing with adversity and keeping our composure,” said Jennings. “We battled back and made some free throws at the end.”
Fairley and Gaines each finished with 11 points for Gulfport. Junior Tyler Fulton added 13 points for Petal.
In girls action Tuesday night, Petal won a nip-and-tuck affair over Lumberton 45-44. Junior Kennedy Moore made one of two foul shots with 5.7 seconds left in the game to secure the win for Petal.
“We knew it was going to be a battle from the jump,” said Petal coach Trista Whitman. “We scheduled them because we wanted to play really great teams and we needed some good competition going into the break.”
“We played really well. Our girls worked hard. Things got tough, but we hung in there really well, and I was really proud of our toughness.”
Lumberton led 16-12 after the first quarter, but Petal had a 9-4 advantage in the second quarter, and led 21-20 at halftime. Neither team led by more then three points the rest of the way.
Moore led all scorers with 22 points for Petal (7-7). Kelsey Joseph had 19 points to lead Lumberton (10-4).
“We’re finally getting to where we can pull through in some tough games,” said Whitman. “To be at this point in mid-December is really, really exciting. We’re looking forward to our region play and seeing what we can do there.”
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