Pickens Academy boys fall to TA despite 22 from Peeks

BY BRIAN HAMILTON, Editor

Junior Seth Peeks and eighth-grader Lane Goodman carried Pickens Academy for most of the night against Tuscaloosa Academy Thursday night, but the Knights were just too much behind the hot shooting of guard Hadrien McNeil, as TA won 50-38.

Goodman has recently been inserted into the starting lineup on the varsity team and has given the Pirates a spark, both offensively and defensively.

“Lane has come a long way in the last month or so,” Pickens Academy head coach Jeremy Pate said. “We started out not sure of how he was going to help us out, with him being so young, but we reached a point in the season where it was kind of like ‘we’ve got to try something’, and he has come in and given us that little burst of energy.”

Pate said the insertion of Goodman into the starting lineup has allowed Peeks to go back to his natural position of playing off the ball at the two-guard.

“On the offensive side, they all look at Seth and it can be a good thing, but it can also be a bad thing too,” Pate said. “Starting Lane has allowed us to take a little bit of the dribbling pressure off Seth and that helps a lot. It kind of puts Seth into the role that he is used to playing and it allows him to get the ball and attack without having to worry about playing point guard and all that. Lane has really stepped up for us and I wish I had realized a lot sooner than I did. He hustles and you can’t coach that kind of stuff.”

The Knights got on the board first, as McNeil made a layup for a 2-0 lead, but Peeks would quickly match it with a layup of his own to tie the score. TA led 6-2 when Peeks made a runner to cut the lead back to two points. The junior guard hit a three-point basket, followed by another deuce, as he scored all nine of PA’s first quarter points, with the Pirates trailing just 13-9 after one quarter.

McNeil hit a three early in the second quarter to put the Knights ahead 16-9, but a reverse layup by Peeks would cut the lead back to five with 5:41 left in the first half. TA would push the lead to double-digits when Sam Rowley shot a three that bounced around the rim and went in for a 23-12 Knights lead.

Goodman then drained a three-pointer from about three feet beyond the arc to cut the PA deficit to 24-17 with just over two minutes left in the second quarter. Peeks then hit a jump shot with under 30 seconds remaining to send the Pirates to halftime within single-digits, trailing 28-19. Peeks had 13 points at intermission, while Goodman and James Parker had three apiece.

Clark Noland made a layup early in the third quarter to cut the TA lead to 28-21, but another McNeil three-pointer would give the Knights a 31-22 lead with 5:39 left in the quarter. Peeks would cut the lead back to seven before Alex Johnson hit a layup and was fouled, converting the old-fashioned three-point play to give TA a 36-24 lead.

A steal and layup by Goodman, followed by a Peeks layup would cut the lead back to single-digits at 36-28. Tuscaloosa Academy head coach Barry Sanderson then received a technical foul with the Knights up by 10, and Goodman calmly went to the line and sank both technical free throws to cut the PA deficit back to 38-30.