HOWARD – Kaid Carpenter hit the shot and Lincoln Cunningham provided the stop to help the fifth-ranked Fredericktown boys basketball team stay unbeaten.
Carpenter’s go-ahead 3-pointer came with 1:16 remaining to lift the Freddies to a 53-50 win at East Knox in Knox Morrow Athletic Conference play on Tuesday, Jan. 19, in Howard.
“He got a clean look and he’s hit some big shots for us all year,” Fredericktown coach Derek Dibling said. “He’s not afraid of the moment and the guys trust him.”
The play came after the Freddies’ offense was slowed by East Knox’s 3-2 zone, an adjustment made in the fourth quarter.
Fredericktown took almost two minutes off the clock with the game tied at 48 in the middle of the fourth. Payton Lester drew a charge that finally ended the possession before a shot was even taken by the Freddies.
“When you’re down, you gotta make something big,” Carpenter said. “I love my team and I feel like … we’re just really close. We get through our problems together.”
“Give (East Knox) some credit,” Dibling said. “They fooled us and we didn’t have a good look. So I guess I’m happy that it took three minutes, because we didn’t have any good looks. It was definitely not by design, just how it worked out.”
Terry Jacobs hit a pull-up jumper at the foul line to give the Bulldogs a 50-48 lead with 2:21 left.
Fredericktown took another minute-plus off the clock before Carpenter was finally open enough to get the go-ahead shot off. He was playing with four fouls and had only reentered the game just before the final sequence.
Carpenter, a sophomore, has proven to be a commodity on a team full of seniors. He entered the lineup after the loss of Mason Finnell to a season-ending knee injury before the start of the season.
“(His teammates) trust him,” Dibling said. “He’s been down that road for us … really all year. He’s really done a nice job meshing with those seniors. He’s one of the few underclassmen we run with, and the guys have brought him into the family.”
The big stop came in between when Cunningham blocked a momentarily open Lester on a post-up with 8 seconds left. Cunningham came from 3-point land to block the shot from behind.
Carpenter was one of four players to finish in double figures for the Freddies (13-0, 7-0). He also had three rebounds.
Thomas Caputo finished with 12 points; Caleb Sheriff added 11 points, five rebounds and three assists; and Ty Hatfield chipped in 10 points, four boards, two assists and a pair of steals for Fredericktown.
Weston Melick went for a game-best 19 points and nine rebounds, and Lester added 12 points and three boards to lead the Bulldogs (6-6, 4-4).
Shane Knepp, who’s double-clutch 3-pointer at the buzzer missed off the rim, led all with seven assists to go with six points and three rebounds for East Knox. Jacobs chipped in seven points, and Scott Bates was also solid with six points and six boards for the Bulldogs.
“We came up short to a great team,” said East Knox coach Ryan Powell, who’s Bulldogs lost 48-43 at Fredericktown earlier this season. “That’s twice we’ve had them and didn’t finish it. It’s tough.
“We fought back (from a 14-point deficit in the second quarter). That third quarter — my God — that’s about as good as we can play offensively. It was a great game with one great team and one really good team.”
