The North Callaway Thunderbirds never trailed the Clopton Hawks until the 34-second mark in the fourth quarter of Thursday night’s Bowling Green Tournament semifinal game.
But that …
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The North Callaway Thunderbirds never trailed the Clopton Hawks until the 34-second mark in the fourth quarter of Thursday night’s Bowling Green Tournament semifinal game.
But that was all it took to dash the Thunderbirds’ effort to avenge an earlier defeat at the hands of Clopton.
Clopton outscored Callaway 22-13 in the fourth quarter and escaped with a 55-54 win to advance to the Bowling Green title game Saturday night. Callaway moved to the third-place game.
“I’ve always heard coaches talk about a game their team deserved to win,” said Callaway coach, Matt Miller. “I believe this is going to be mine.”
Miller said his team gave it all they had, despite the loss, and gave Clopton credit for never giving up.
Callaway led by as many as 16 points in the first half and had a 13-point lead in the fourth quarter, causing many in the stands to feel confident a win was on the way. And when Callaway’s Matthew Weber sank two free throws with 14 seconds to play, it again felt like a win was in the cards.
But it wasn’t to be.
Callaway carried a 31-22 lead into the half and was up 41-33 heading into the fourth quarter and overall, the team executed in the stretch run, hitting free throws as Clopton was in a must-foul situation. Weber hit 7-for-8 from the free-throw line.
Callaway was led by Sam Pezold, who got out to a hot start, draining three 3-pointers in the first quarter alone. Pezold earned a momentary rest on the bench after picking up two early fouls but returned to score 20 points. Cody Cash had 11 points and 4 assists; Weber had 9 points; and Noah Scrogum had 6 points and 8 rebounds.
Clopton was led by Zach Eivins, 18 points; Gabre Hill, 15; and Daniel Harvey, 11. Clopton would go on to win the tournament by defeating Winfield.
Third-place game
Callaway’s fortunes wouldn’t get any better as the tournament host Bowling Green Bobcats got a 21-point performance from Michael Starks in the third-place game Saturday.
“Our boys played hard,” said Miller, “but we just couldn’t make the baskets and couldn’t make the stops when we needed them.”
Trailing 27-24 at the half, Callaway threatened in the second half, but Bowling Green would answer each Callaway run with one of their own for the 64-58 win. Bowling Green has struggled in the 2020-21 campaign but is showing improvement of late, standing at a 4-10 record with the win. Gunner Bryant added 12 points for Bowling Green; Brayden Heidecker and Dylan Dalton each had 9.
Callaway’s Matthew Weber hit five 3-pointers and was the high pointman for the game with 23. Scrogum had 13 points and 7 rebounds; Cash had 12 points, 6 steals and 4 assists.
Callaway hosted MMA Monday (results not available at press time).
