Torrid free throw shooting proves to be Panthers downfall in 59-48 home finale

Charles City's Mason Jefferson uses his quickness to split the defensive pressure applied by Carver's Timothy Overby (50) and Damian Mosher.

Andre' Jones photo

Charles City’s Panthers had ample opportunities to upend visiting Carver Academy’s Wolverines on Feb. 3. But the hosts performance in one aspect of the game proved to be their downfall–free throws.

Charles City converted only nine out of a possible 32 attempts from the charity stripe, with results shown on the scoreboard as Carver held on to a 59-48 Tidewater District contest win.

Early on the Panthers struggled on the boards. Carver’s Damian Mosher would score six points from offensive putbacks as the Wolverines raced out to a 10-3 lead. But with 1:04 on the clock, Mosher went to the bench for a break and Charles City took advantage. Panther forward Steven Crewe followed a miss on an offensive rebound while teammate Kyle Jones banked a long jumper off the class as time expired to close the quarter with the hosts trailing by a mere bucket (12-10). That deficit would be wiped out when Brian Hicks scored on a lay-in to begin the second quarter.

After Carver regained a two-point lead, Charles City had ample opportunities to control the contest. However, four consecutive misses from the free throw line plagued the hosts. Those four misses energized the Wolverines, who responded with a 9-0 run behind three consecutive floaters by Jordan Harrington to bolt out to a double digit lead (23-12). The Panthers only converted three of 16 free throws in the first half and watched Carver hold a 29-19 advantage at halftime.

Only capable of chipping a single point off Carver’s lead (41-32), Charles City’s transitioned into the fourth quarter energized. A Michael Callahan pass to Noah Ragland was followed up by Jones’ shot off the backboard to cut the lead to five. Hicks free throw captivated a 5-0 Panther scoring spurt to bring the hosts within four (41-37).

But the struggles from the charity stripe haunted the Panthers once again, as they missed nine free throws in the fourth quarter. Meanwhile, Carver rebounded from a four-minute scoring drought with a 12-2 run of their own to open the margin back to double figures (53-40). The Wolverines, who shot 13 of 22 from the charity stripe, would convert seven of 10 down the stretch to seal the win for the visitors.

After the contest, Panther interim head coach Avery Jones commented about the torrid free throw shooting.

“You’re never going to win a game shooting like that from the free throw line,” he said. “We missed 13 free throws in the first half and we missed them down the stretch.”

Jones also commented about the poor rebounding effort by the team.

“We gave up 14 offensive rebounds in the first quarter and that led to [Carver] scoring easy baskets,” he continued. “We were trying to outjump them instead of boxing out. We’re not as tall or talented as a lot of teams so we have to do the things that helps us even out the game and play into our hands.”

Charles City (0-15) received a game-high 21 points from Jones. Hicks finished with seven points, Ray Crump tossed in six, Ragland and Mason Jefferson accounted for five, and Crewe and Tyler Allen chipped in with two apiece.

Carver Academy’s Steven Pettaway scored 13 points to lead three Wolverine players who finished in double figures.