Pinewood Prep uses 3-pointers to top Wilson Hall 66-58 in SCISA AAAA quarterfinal game

     Sumter – The Pinewood Prep boys basketball team let a 9-point lead midway through the third quarter get completely away from it in its SCISA AAAA state tournamenit quarterfinal game against Wilson Hall on Monday. No worries though.

         The Panthers knocked down four 3-point baskets in the first four minutes of the fourth quarter to expand the lead to nine points once again. Try as it might, WH was uable to come all the way back this time as PP won 66-58 at Sumter County Civic Center.

         Pinewood, which improved to 23-7 on the season, will take on Augusta Christian School in a semifinal game on Wednesday at the civic center.

         “We didn’t play our best, but we hit our shots and made plays when we needed them,” said Panthers head coach Pat Eidson, who recently became the all-time winningest coach in the history of South Carolina high school basketball. “Wilson Hall played a good game. They made us work for it.”

         After the game was tied 29-29 at haltime, a 3-pointer by PP’s Jayden Alexander finished off a 13-4 run to start the third quarter and make it 42-33 with 2:51 remaining. The Barons began to use some pressure defense and it quickly flipped the script,, They scored 10 points in the final 1:39 of the quarter to take a 43-42 lead into the final stanza. A 3-point play by Sean Michael Matthews gave them the lead.

         “We just put a little pressure on them in that 1-3-1 press,” said Wilson Hall head coach Rip Ripley, whose team finished with a 20-10 record. “It threw them off but we knew they were going to figure it out.”

         Alexander, who led Pinewood Prep with 27 points, hit a trey to start the scoring in the fourth quarter to make it 45-43. Matthews hit a layup to tie the game before Pinewood's Tre Green hit a 3 to make it 48-45. WH’s Ford Wilder hit a trifecta to tie the game one final time. After a layup by Kais Parris and a tip-in by Green, Alexander canned another 3-pointer and got a steal and a layup to make it 57-48 with 4:29 left in the game.

         “We were able to adjust to what they were doing to us,” said Eidson, who now has 954 career victories after setting the record at 945 last month. “We moved the ball well and got some good looks.”

         “They shoot 25 3s a game. That’s their MO, so they’re goig to hit some,” Ripley said of the Panthers.

         The Barons managed to cut the lead back to four on a cople of occasions, but could get not closer.

         Green added 15 points for PP, while Parris had 11. Jonathan Slawson Jr. added seven and Tripp Eidson had six.

         Wilder led four Wilson Hall players ini double figures with 21 points. Hugh Humprhies added 15, while Matthews had 12 and Michael Lauzon had 10.

         Humphries and Mathews are 1,000-point scorers and are among seven seniors on the roster. Ripley is proud of their accomplishments.

         “I’m proud of the team. I love this group,” said Ripley, who just finished his third season as head coach. “I’m proud that we came out and fought hard. I hope that we’ll keep building.

“I’m super proud of what they’ve given to the program, not just on the court but off the court. We won three region championshi0s in a row, we had three (first-round) playoff wins in a row. The first two (quarterfinal) games were not close. This year we gave them all we had.”