Yet, the Division IV Knights were in it to the end against Division I Upper Arlington, making a late steal to give themselves a chance, before falling 49-46 at Trent Arena.
“It’s part of our DNA — we’re a three point shooting team, and when you don’t make threes, you put yourself in a position where you have to really lock in defensively," Alter coach Eric Coulter said.
The Knights (8-6) were once close to a 40% 3-point shooting team. But they haven’t been better than 30% in their past five games. Their only 3-pointer came from Grant Guess (eight points) in the third quarter during a run that brought the Knights back from a seven-point deficit to a 37-all tie entering the fourth.
“You have a really bad night it makes it really tough on you,” Coulter said. “But to be in the game with these guys and shoot that poorly, that’s not the end of the world type thing. Usually teams get killed when they shoot those percentages.”
Upper Arlington (10-3) surged to a 46-42 lead on Will Graves’ fourth 3-pointer and Charlie Hunt’s fast-break layup with 2:51 to play.
Alter responded when freshman point guard William Peagler Jr. used a ball screen to make a jumper from just inside the 3-point arc. Then the teams traded free throws and UA led 48-46 with 37 seconds left.
Luke Mitchell made one of two free throws to push the lead to 49-46 with 25 seconds left. With fouls to give, the Golden Bears made use of them to slow Alter. Then a turnover on an inbounds play gave the ball away with 10 seconds left.
But Alter’s Peyton Bakos stole the ball back and the Knights called time out with six seconds left. UA chose to send Peagler Jr. to the foul line. He missed both and time ran out in a scramble for the rebound.
“I’m real proud of the guys how they handled the last-second situations to get a steal,” Coulter said.
The Knights’ well-known 2-3 zone was a tough matchup for them against a team full of shooters. It bothered the Golden Bears in the first quarter when the Knights took an 11-3 lead into the second quarter. But UA responded and made 9 of 20 3-pointers, led by Graves’ four. He scored 14 points and Brody Larrison scored 16.
“They’re a good team – I can’t take anything away,“ Coulter said. ”Tough matchup for us because they have five guys on the floor that can shoot. I thought that the first quarter was our best defensive effort all season."
Alter was led by Bakos with 16 points and Peagler Jr. with 13. Peagler Jr. is a 6-foot freshman guard who leads the GCL-Coed in scoring at 17.5 a game, has surpassed 20 points four times and has been held under 10 points once. All that while playing the point.
“I’m going to say he’s kind of like a unicorn because I don’t think we’ve ever experienced something like this at Alter,” Coulter said. “His composure is really good. He plays like a senior even though he’s a freshman, and he’s a great young man. He’s very coachable. To play that young, you have to have mental toughness.”
Freshmen have played during Coulter’s tenure as an assistant and head coach, but none have been this integral to the team’s success or been able to score this early in the variety of ways Peagler Jr. does.
“He’s unbelievable getting by people, so he can get to the rim,“ Coulter said. ”I definitely don’t know too many freshmen that can do what he does, getting by people and creating for people. And in the open court, he’s almost impossible guard because his change of direction is really good."
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