Zoe Collins Rath
Jan 29, 2022
It was a shot-for-shot battle Petersburg boys basketball was able to win over the Dinwiddie Generals in their gym for a 56-53 victory.
Petersburg's Bernard Fuller was able to go to the basket for an easy layup and was able to help force a turnover on defense. But the Generals were able to get the ball back but on a fast break, Kaymeign Lundy was able to find a streaking CJ Claiborne to make it 4-0.
Dinwiddie was able to lay in a basket and on offense on the other end Chris Fields made one of his shots from the free-throw line. But Dinwiddie was able to cut the lead to one after the Generals went to the free-throw line.
5-4 Petersburg.
Fields laid in a basket, so would Dinwiddie. Then Dinwiddie scored from the free-throw line to take the lead. Petersburg was able to make the score eights by scoring a free throw from the line.
Back-to-back layups made it 10. Dinwiddie's shooting extended the lead to three and Petersburg scored from the free-throw line keeping them in the game. Made shots from Fields and Lundy, who scored a layup on a fast break to end the quarter at 14's.
"... they were scoring inside," said Head Coach Ryan Massenburg said.
Petersburg was basically running layup lines from all angles of the court on fast breaks and on offense. If there was a foul on the drive, Petersburg made either one or none of their free throws.
Petersburg missed 14 free throws total.
The missed free throws put Petersburg down by five as Dinwiddie's shooting got hot. But Lundy and Jamari Garnett hit back-to-back threes to take over the lead 21-20. Petersburg went on a 6- run with a new sense of life that was cut off by a Generals three.
Petersburg was not phased and went on another 7-0 run to extend their lead. But a Generals layup in the final seconds would make it 33-26 into the half.
Opening the second half, Dinwiddie opened with a backdoor cut to make it 33-28. Petersburg was playing intense defense, tried to get on the take but attempts at charges were blocking fouls. With fouls happening on the shot and people getting in foul trouble, the Generals but the deficit to four, 35-31.
"I feel like we won the first half because we had guys come in for guys in foul trouble... who gave a good minute or two," said Massenburg.
Dinwiddie three leads to Fields Layups to make it 39-34.
Lundy, who scored 15 points on the night, was able to overpower and out jump everyone for a simple layup but the Generals scored from the free-throw line. But to keep them at their distance, Tylik Lawerence was able to drain a three, followed by Garnett saving a Lawerence jumper to extend the lead.
The energy brought into the stadium from Petersburg scoring tried to make an appearance on defense but CJ could not take the charge and get called for a blocking foul. Dinwiddie made their free throws and a simple back door cut made the score 46-40.
Dinwiddie saw an opportunity to score with an easy layup in the final seconds. It was a short victory for them until Lundy was able to end the quarter 48-42 with a reverse.
Fields went to work under the basket and scored but missed the and-one. Fuller was fouled but was unable to score from the line and the second chance opportunity from Lawerence was foiled when he accidentally stepped out of bounds.
Petersburg was holding onto their lead with Claiborne making defensive hustle efforts to stop layups and create opportunities for them to score in transition. A Generals hook made it 51-46.
"We have been working on our fast break, transition offense... called a quick," said Massenburg.
But Lawerence turned on the jets from a pass from Fuller that looked like it was going out of bounds. Yet a pass behind him was able to find the hands of Lundy to make it 53-46. A Lawerence layup made it 55-46.
Dinwiddie, however, went on a 0-7 scoring run from trips to the free-throw line and from jump shots. It was 55-53 in the final seconds and it came down to free throws.
F^2 went to the free-throw line and all they needed was one to extend the lead. They were one of six from the line in the closing seconds and Fields thirteenth point extended the lead to 56-53.
"Missed 14 free throws and win by three... just got to go back to the drawing board," Massenburg said.