Man captured second place in the first Stephen Caldwell Holiday Tournament Friday night falling to River View 60-55 in the championship at the Man Memorial Fieldhouse (Photo by Bill Lusk/WVOW Sports).
Bill Lusk | WVOW Sports
MAN A furious fourth-quarter rally came up just short for the Man Hillbillies in a 60-55 loss to River View Friday night in the finals of the Stephen Caldwell Holiday Tournament at the Man Memorial Fieldhouse.
Down 11 after three quarters, the Hillbillies (1-1) went on a 12-0 run over the first five minutes and took a 53-52 on Jake Endicott's basket with 2:53 to play in the fourth quarter.
Endicott started the run with a basket and 3-point baskets from Kaleb Mullins and Noah Frazier brought Man to within three, 52-49, with 6:04 to play in the fourth.
Mullins made one of two free throws and Blake Hicks knocked the second of a two shot free throw attempt to bring Man to within one, 52-51, with 4:27 to play.
With his team trailing by one, River View's Kaiden Newberry hit a 3-pointer to give the Raiders (3-0) a 55-53 lead with 2:02 to play.
Man tied it at 55 with 1:00 to play when Hicks hit a short jumper, but Asthon Hunt's layup with 46 seconds remaining, which proved to be the game winner, gave the Raiders a 57-55 lead.
Mullins had an opportunity to tie it for Man, but missed on two free throw attempts with 28 seconds remaining.
Gabe Lester iced the game for River View with a pair of free throws with five seconds to play and Jackson Danielson knocked down one of two free throws with 0:00.4 remaining for the five point victory.
Danielson led all scorers with 22 points. Hunt scored 10 points, Newberry had nine and Lester eight points for River View.
The Raiders trailed 34-29 at halftime, but started the third quarter on a 10-1 run to take a 39-35 on Hunt's basket midway through the third.
Man fought back to tie it at 39 on a pair of baskets from Devon Sanders, however, the Raiders closed the quarter on a 13-2 and led 52-41 after three quarters of play.
Both teams had issues protecting the ball in a game where both teams combined for 48 turnovers. Man committed 21 turnovers, the majority of those in the second half, while River View committed 23 turnovers, the majority of those coming in the Hillbillies furious fourth quarter comeback attempt.
The first 4:38 of the first quarter featured four ties and two lead changes before Man closed on a 9-2 run to take a 21-14 lead takes in part to four 3-pointers from Noah Frazier.
Frazier, a freshman, finished with 15 points on five 3-point baskets to lead Man in scoring. In Thursday's opening round 53-40 win over Van, Frazier knocked down five 3's and finished with 17 points.
Mullins had nine points while Cameron Gerace and Endicott finished with eight points each for Man. Sanders had six points, Hicks finished with five and Trace Doty and Micah Goble each had two points to round out the scoring for the Hillbillies.
Man made one more field goal (22-21) and two more 3's (6-4) than River View, but the Raiders shot 12 of 18 from the free throw line compared to the Hillbillies 5 of 17 showing from the charity stripe.
Both teams will be back in action Tuesday night as River View hits the road to take on the Sherman Tide while Man invades Miner Mountain for a matchup with the Mingo Central Miners.