Fairbanks senior Tyler Beem (32) takes the ball to the basket Monday evening against Columbus Bishop Ready. Beem scored 12 points during FHS’ Division III tournament loss.
(Journal-Tribune photo by Tim Miller)
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Basketball coaches may tell you that at times, they can have mixed feelings about the three-point shot.
When it’s working in your favor, it’s the greatest addition ever to the game of hoops.
When it’s going well for the other guy, though, it can cause wailing and gnashing of teeth.
Columbus Bishop Ready used the long-distance dialing to its advantage on Monday during a 62-48 victory at Fairbanks.
The Silver Knights’ triumph came during the opening round of the Division III tournament and ended the Panthers’ season at 20-3.
Ready, the No. 10 seed, scored 30 points worth of goals on the three-ball, hitting eight during the first half.
“They made some of those shots even though we had someone in their faces,” said FHS coach Justin George. “At other times, we didn’t slide over to help on defense and gave them some open looks.
“Early on, it seemed like everyone on their team was hitting three’s.”
Cade Dent and Darius Parham drilled early trifectas and the fifth-seeded Panthers were down, 8-2, in rather quick fashion.
A three-ball by Cade Canter pushed the Knights out to an 11-6 lead with a little more than five minutes left in the opening set.
Braylon Green scored twice for Fairbanks, which was seeded fifth, including on a back door cut with an assist by Mason Smith.
Those buckets cut FHS’ deficit to 11-10 with 3:39 remaining in the quarter.
That, however, was as close as the Panthers got the rest of the evening.
The Silver Knights went on a quick 9-0 burst, including a three-ball from Garrison Budd, that doubled the visitors’ lead at 20-10.
Cross Hackathorne scored along the baseline to end the Panthers’ dry spell.
Both teams swapped possessions down the stretch as Ready took an eight-point lead into the ensuing stanza.
The second quarter went scoreless for the first two minutes as the combatants came up with empty possessions.
Tyler Beem buried a three-pointer that narrowed FHS’ deficit to 20-15.
Budd was deadly from beyond the arc as he put two more trifectas in the book.
In doing so, he pushed the Knights out to a 28-15 lead with a little more than four minutes left in the half.
Parham and Jaishan Norris each found the net from beyond the three-point line as the Silver Knights held a 34-21 spread at the turn.
Beem pulled Fairbanks to within 10 with a three-pointer to open the third quarter.
The Panthers had additional good looks at the basket, but at times the ball refused to drop.
The Knights, who advanced to last year’s district finals, were able to maintain a double-digit lead.
Budd tickled the twine on a pair of trifectas down the stretch that sent Ready into the final eight minutes of action with a 51-36 lead.
Free throws by Parham later stretched the Knights’ advantage to 56-36.
Jacob Nicol scored on back-to-back possessions to reduce FHS’ deficit to 58-46 with 2:24 remaining in the game.
Fairbanks missed several free throws during the fourth stanza and hit only three-of-10 for the game.
Parham sank two additional charity tosses (as the Knights finished 12-of-16 from the stripe) for a 62-46 Knight lead.
Seth Standley scored on an offensive rebound for the Panthers’ final points of the season.
“Bishop Ready is battle-tested and a very deep team,” said George. “We had some bad turnovers and missed some opportunities at the rim.
“We got down and late in the game, we just started chucking the ball toward the basket,” he said. “That’s not us.”
Bishop Ready
Parham 5-8-20, Budd 6-2-19, Norris 4-2-11, Ca. Canter 2-0-5, Dent 1-0-3, Baker 1-0-2, Daniels 1-0-2, White 0-0-0, DeLuca 0-0-0, Gramlich 0-0-0, Co. Canter 0-0-0. Totals 20-12-62.
Three-point goals: Budd 5, Parham 2, Norris 1, Ca. Canter 1, Dent 1.
Fairbanks
Green 7-1-15, Beem 4-1-12, Nicol 5-0-10, Hackathorne 4-0-8, Standley 1-0-2, Miller 0-1-1, Brackenridge 0-0-0, Calder 0-0-0, Smith 0-0-0, Murray 0-0-0, Good 0-0-0. Totals 21-3-48.
Three-point goals: Beem 3.