CRESTVIEW — With the game on the line Crestview High School went to the free throw line and came up aces in boys basketball against Pace on Friday.
The Bulldogs were eight of 10 from the charity stripe in the fourth quarter as they took down the Patriots 47-43.
“That (free throws in the fourth quarter) was huge and gave us a big advantage,” Crestview Coach George Stakley said. “I thought we played well in spurts.
“We kind of got out of our offense a little bit, but once we got back into it things worked out for us.”
Crestview’s best spurt of the game came in the first quarter when it didn’t look as if the Bulldogs would need a late barrage of free throws to put the Patriots away.
Junior point guard Rusty Moorer scored 10 points in the opening period to stake Crestview to a 13-3. Marcus Purcell scored Crestview’s other points on a 3-point basket.
John Bartell scored all three Patriot points in the first quarter.
The second quarter was a reverse of the first period as the Pace offense got untracked. Jahmiah Simmons and Trent Short each scored six points as the Patriots outscored the Bulldogs 16-5 to take a 19-18 lead at the half.
A 3-pointer by Matthew Harshany with two minutes left in the third quarter gave the Patriot their biggest lead of the game a 32-24.
A Purcell 3-pointer cut the lead to 32-27 and stared a 15-1 Bulldog run that pushed Crestview back into the lead.
Keenan Redd scored on an old fashion 3-point play late in the third quarter that pulled the Bulldogs to within three points of Pace.
The Bulldogs (4-1) got a pair of baskets by Capri Jones sandwiched around a Purcell 3-pointer in the first three minutes of the fourth quarter.
A pair of free Purcell free throws with 50 seconds left in the fourth quarter gave Crestview a 45-40 the Patriots wouldn’t be able to overcome. But Pace did make things interesting when Harshany hit a 3-pointer.
The win closed out a three-game home stand that saw the Bulldogs win all three games.
“It was a real big because we had three games in a row and our goal was to go 3-0,” Stakley said.
Pace 3 16 14 10 – 43
Crestview 13 5 12 17 – 47
PACE (43)
John Bartell 3, Conner Lee 3, Jahmiah Simmons 12, Matthew Harshany 16, Trent Short 6, Nathan Harshag 3. Totals 8 5 9-13 43,
CRESTVIEW (47)
Rusty Moorer 16, Capri Jones 6, Keenan Redd 6, Sam Johnson 3, Marcus Purcell 16. Totals 10 5 6-10 47.
Crestview-Pace basketball box
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview finishes strong to take down Pace (PHOTOS)