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Rans, Rine, Quillen also score in double figures as Panthers advance to Cass County title game
BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS
Sports Editor, RTC
ROYAL CENTER — Pioneer boys basketball coach Darren McKaig had noted that the second half of the third quarter was the time when many teams had pulled away from the Panthers in the past.
When he called timeout with 4:56 left in the third quarter of his team’s home game against Lewis Cass in the Cass County Invitational semifinals Tuesday, he told his players that this would be a time his team would make their move.
Noah Miller scored 13 points, including a crucial 3-pointer with less than three minutes left that hit the rim three times before dropping, and Shiloh Rine, Micah Rans and Aidan Quillen also scored in double figures to lead the host Panthers as they made their move and claimed a 48-44 win.
Pioneer trailed by as many as 10 points in the second quarter and trailed by seven at the half, but they went on a 16-4 run covering the third and fourth quarters right after McKaig’s timeout to go ahead for good.
Pioneer would lead by as many as seven in the fourth quarter, but Lewis Cass would get back within 41-40 after Brody Hillis put back a Kolten Young air ball. Quillen would split a pair of free throws, and the sharpshooting Miller would later launch a 3 from the right wing that kissed off seemingly every part of the rim before dropping and giving Pioneer a five-point lead. It was his fourth 3-pointer of the game.
“He has hit a lot of shots on this basket,” McKaig said, pointing at the rim that gave Miller the favorable bounce. “He’s the kid who is just not afraid to shoot. We’re trying to be patient, we’re trying to be patient, but somebody’s got to score. And he’s the guy who’s willing to play that role.”
Hillis would hit two free throws with 57.3 seconds left to cut the lead to 45-42, and a Trey Johnson steal for Lewis Cass would give the Kings a chance to potentially tie with a 3-pointer, but Hillis missed from behind the arc, and Mason Shaver rebounded for the Panthers.
Rans would hit two free throws with 10.6 seconds left, and after Lewis Cass’ Bryce Rudd put back another air ball with 2.5 seconds left, Rans would clinch the win when he hit a free throw with 1.3 seconds left.
Rans scored eight of his 12 points in the fourth quarter. Rine also had 12, including the go-ahead 15-footer with 23.7 seconds left in the third quarter that gave Pioneer a 32-31 lead. Quillen, who moved in from Western for his senior season, scored 11.
Brody Hillis scored a game-high 16 for the Kings, and Brennan Deeter had 10.
Pioneer evened their record at 1-1. Lewis Cass dropped to 0-3.
Pioneer will play host Logansport in the title game at 8:15 p.m. tonight at the Berry Bowl. Lewis Cass will play Caston in the consolation game at 6:30 p.m.
Pioneer bounced back from a 38-32 loss in their opener against Northwestern on Nov. 26.
“He just said to put pressure on them and make them make mistakes,” Pioneer senior Lucas Perry said in recalling McKaig’s message from the third quarter timeout. “And then come down and pass the ball around, pass the ball around and then open shot. Noah was on fire, Aidan was on fire, Micah was on fire, everybody was on fire tonight. We were moving at all levels.”
Lewis Cass went on an 11-0 run in the first quarter to take a 15-6 lead. That run included two 3-pointers from Johnson and one from Julian Levine.
Rans fed Rine for a layup to cut the first-quarter deficit to seven, and Quillen hit a wing triple to cut the lead to four to start the second.
But a Hillis layup, a Hillis putback and a Bryce Rudd steal of an inbounds pass and coast-to-coast take for a layup gave Lewis Cass a 21-11 lead.
A Rans runner in the lane, a Quillen steal and layup and two Rans free throws would cut the lead to five before Deeter made a quick-witted play: With 0.6 seconds left in the half, he threw an inbounds pass off Pioneer’s Phillip McFatridge’s back, recovered the ball and hit a 10-footer from the baseline as time expired.
Miller and Deeter exchanged treys in the first three minutes of the second half, and Lewis Cass still led 27-20.
But Miller hit another 3, Rine hit a turnaround after a flash post, and Rine scored again on the delayed break after a steal to tie the game.
Deeter found Hillis, but Quillen drilled a 3 over the top of the Lewis Cass zone to give Pioneer their first lead of the second half at 30-29 with 2:23 left in the third.
A Hillis putback gave Lewis Cass the lead back, but Rine hit a 15-footer as Lewis Cass’ Young was called for a foul for running over a screen. That gave Pioneer the ball back, and though Shaver missed two free throws, they added to their lead on an up-and-under leaner from Quillen with six seconds left.
When Rine hit a 13-foot pullup with 7:17 left in the game, Pioneer led 36-31.
Deeter hit a 3, but Rans drove to the hoop for a 3-point play, and he penetrated into the paint again and found Rine for a layup. The Pioneer lead was 41-34.
“Micah’s trying to figure out how to handle the ball and not get into too much traffic,” McKaig said. “He’s so quick that he doesn’t even have to be in traffic. He can just back out, and he can go around his guy again, and I think as the year goes on, he’ll be a real problem for other teams to handle. I just stayed positive with him the whole game. I just know what he’s capable of. He’s so athletic he’s going to help us win games in the fourth quarter.
Pioneer 48, Lewis Cass 44
LEWIS CASS (44) (0-3)
Trey Johnson 2 0-0 6, Brennan Deeter 4 0-2 10, Bryce Rudd 3 0-2 6, Owen Cotner-Graves 0 0-0 0, Brody Hillis 6 4-4 16, Kolten Young 1 0-1 2, Nolan Hahn 0 0-0 0, Jonathan Mack 0 1-2 1, Julian Levine 1 0-0 3, Wade Tocco 0 0-0 0
TEAM: 17 5-11 44
PIONEER (48) (1-1)
Aidan Quillen 4 1-2 11, Micah Rans 3 6-7 12, Noah Miller 4 1-3 13, Shiloh Rine 6 0-0 12, Lucas Perry 0 0-0 0, Mason Shaver 0 0-2 0, Lane Weldy 0 0-0 0, Brodie Howard 0 0-0 0, Phillip McFatridge 0 0-0 0, J.J. Solano 0 0-0 0
TEAM: 17 8-14 48
Three-point field goals:
Lewis Cass 5 (Deeter 2, Johnson 2, Levine),
Pioneer 6 (Miller 4, Quillen 2)
Total fouls: Lewis Cass 16, Pioneer 20
Fouled out: Perry (PIO), 1:15, fourth; McFatridge (PIO), :57.3, fourth
Turnovers: Lewis Cass 14, Pioneer 15
Score by quarters
Lewis Cass 15 9 7 13 – 44
Pioneer 8 9 17 14 – 48
