Missed shot gains Pilot victory

by Charles Choate
FINGER ROLL – Fulton County’s Caleb Kimble (2) drives past three Lake County players, during the third quarter of their game last in Hickman. The Pilots got 25 points from Kimble in the game, but it was the Falcons who posted the 74-70 win on the road. (photo by Charles Choate) FINGER ROLL – Fulton County’s Caleb Kimble (2) drives past three Lake County players, during the third quarter of their game last in Hickman. The Pilots got 25 points from Kimble in the game, but it was the Falcons who posted the 74-70 win on the road. (photo by Charles Choate)

A missed shot at the buzzer allowed Fulton County to gain a split in games played last week in Hickman.

The Pilots battled in an opening loss to Lake County, but were able to post a win against Cairo, Illinois, after a failed last second shot by the visiting Pilots.

Lake County 74

Pilots 70

The Pilots trailed by as many as 18 points in the second half, and saw their rally efforts falter in the final moments of the game.

Lake County played strong from the start, taking a 17-12 first quarter lead, that was stretched to double figures, 35-22, at the halftime break.

The two teams managed to play even basketball in the third quarter, although Lake County posted their biggest lead of the night, 40-22, with 6:57 on the score clock.

Following this score, the Pilots got 17 points from Caleb Kimble, and 10 points from Kahari Miller, and rallied to cut the score to 63-60 with 2:35 to play.

This would be as close as the Pilots could come, as Lake County won the scoring battle, 11-10, over the final time of play.

Kimble led Fulton County with 25 points, followed by Miller with 19, Camden Aldridge 13, Armani Yandal 5, George Scott 3, Isaac Madding 3 and Jerome Warren 2.

Lake County’s Jeremiah Polk led all scorers in the game with 28 points.

With the loss, Fulton County fell to 1-3.

Pilots 49

Cairo, Ill. 48

Thanks to a missed shot by Cairo’s Terrell Jones as time expired, Fulton County was able to improve to (2-3) on the year.

The game featuring the Pilots taking on the visiting Pilots, proved to be a fast and physical match-up for most of the night.

Fulton County actually had their biggest lead in the first quarter, when an inside shot by George Scott gave the Pilots a 14-4 advantage at the 1:38 mark.

The Pilots maintained a secure lead heading into halftime, with coach Jamie Madding’s team on top 26-17.

In the third quarter, Fulton County had the largest lead of the night, 36-24, with 3:19 on the clock.

It was at this point that Cairo mounted an 11-2 run, to end the quarter trailing only 38-35.

In the fourth quarter, the visiting Pilots continued their comeback efforts, and took the lead, 45-44, with 1:51 to play.

Seemingly unfazed by the rally, Scott put the Pilots back in front 46-45, with Cameron Cole then draining a deep baseline three-point shot for a 49-45 lead.

Cairo again answered with a Deqavious Williams three-point shot with under one second to play, to cut the lead to 49-48.

With Fulton County in possession of the basketball at the far end of their basket, an inbounds pass by Kahari Miller hit the rafters, giving possession to Cairo with .02 showing on the clock.

The Pilots were able to get a pass underneath the basket to Terrell Jones, but his backhanded shot failed to score the winning points.

George Scott led all Pilots in the game with 12 points, followed by Kahari Miller 10, Cameron Cole 9, Camden Aldridge 8, Caleb Kimble 7 and Armani Yandal 3.

Isiah Brown led all scorers for Cairo with 15 points.