Pickens Academy Boys Finish Third in Nucor Tournament

BY BRIAN HAMILTON, Sports Correspondent

Pickens Academy (1-1) kicked off its 2018-19 basketball season by finishing in third-place at the Nucor Thanksgiving tournament at Stillman College a couple weeks ago. The Pirates lost Banks Academy 68-54 in the opener, but came back the next night and defeated North River Christian 55-46.

Pickens Academy head coach Jeremy Pate said he was excited for his team to pick up its first win of the year, but said the team still has a long way to go.

“We’ve got a lot we’ve got to work on,” Pate said. “We’ve got some communication issues we’ve got to work on and we’ve got to get better at handling the ball. We also have to box out a lot better.”

Seth Peeks won a three-point tournament before PA took the floor against North River and the junior’s hot hand appeared to carry over to the third-place game, as Peeks hit two early threes, along with another by Hayden Dyer to put the Pirates ahead 9-0 in the first quarter. Two free throws by Peek would give Pickens Academy a 13-7 lead after the first quarter.

“It was nice. I guess the three-point competition kind of helped us out,” Pate said.

The Pirates would continue to increase their lead in the second quarter, as Clark Noland corralled a rebound and put it back up to make the PA lead 23-11. Peeks later hit a corner three-point basket to make the score 27-15 with just 14 seconds remaining in the second quarter. The Pirates would go to the break ahead 27-18 behind Peeks’ 13 first-half points.

North River Christian had pulled to within single-digits, but Peeks would hit a pair of layups to keep PA’s distance at 35-25. The Chargers would then cut the lead to 35-28 with just over a minute left in the third quarter. A North River layup at the buzzer would make the score 37-30 at the end of the third.