Clutch free-throws clinch East victory

The Panthers made all four of their foul shots in the final 30 seconds to turn back Chaney.

By CHUCK HOUSTEAU

Vindicator Correspondent

YOUNGSTOWN — When East High’s Trumaine Jenkins stepped to the line with the Panthers clinging to a 76-73 lead with just 28.6 seconds left in the game, the senior just wanted to silence all the trash talk usually generated in a hotly contested rivalry.

“I play with these guys all the time,” Jenkins said. “There was a lot of smack being talked about this game before and during and I just wanted to end it and get out of here with a win.”

Jenkins sank both free throws and that all but sealed an 80-75 win for the Panthers over the Cowboys before a packed gymnasium at Chaney.

Jenkins finished with 13 points and teammate Jarelle Burt added 20 as the Panthers (10-4) defeated Chaney for the second time this season.

East knocked off the Cowboys 80-71 earlier this season.

Jenkins said that he wanted the ball in his hands with the game on the line.

“When they made a run at us late in the game I knew it could come down to free throws,” said the senior guard. “I always practice my free throws and I was only 1-for-3 in the first half but I had confidence I could knock them down.”

Chaney then got two points back on a basket by Kenny Strong with 9.8 seconds left but East’s Justin Brown was fouled on the inbound pass and he also calmly made two free tosses with 8.1 seconds left to push the lead back out to the final margin.

Brown finished with 14 points and grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds.

East made all eight free throws in the final quarter to hold off the Chaney challenge.

East coach Mark Cherol said he knew that Cowboys would be an even better opponent the second time around.

“I told the kids before this game that since we beat Chaney the first time they would be hungry to get even with us at their home,” Cherol said. “We came out flat and Chaney jumped on us early before we decided to play basketball.”

The Panthers regained control of the contest by outscoring Chaney 24-8 in the second quarter to take a 41-29 lead at the break.

And that’s when the game got interesting.

In the second half, Chaney (6-11) rallied several times to cut the East lead down to seven points in the third quarter.

But each time East responded with a run of its own and regained a comfortable 64-50 lead entering the fourth quarter.

“I thought it was a great effort to come back from 14 down in the final quarter,” said Chaney coach John Marsh. “Our kids played as hard as they could. We battled back and cut it to one.

“We played our hearts out.”

Chaney started the final eight minutes on a 15-2 run and trailed only 66-65 with 4:17 left in the contest.

East regrouped and the teams traded baskets and free throws until East held a 74-73 lead with 1:13 left in the contest.

“We wanted to stay aggressive in the final quarter,” said Cherol. “We were able to regain our composure and played much better in the final minutes to get out of here with a win.”

East won the game at the foul line where they connected on 15 of 22 compared to Chaney’s 8 of 20.

The Panthers also held a 42-26 advantage on the boards.

The Cowboys were led by Strong with 20 points and Tyrell Howell who added 19. Terrance Mackie added 14 points for the Cowboys.