PLYMOUTH – In every sport, the senior class must decide what they will leave as their team legacy. The Plymouth basketball class of 2016 decided to go down fighting and if not for an all star performance from an all star player they might have gone out Sectional Champions.

 

Plymouth fell to South Bend Riley on Saturday night in the sectional final game at PHS 60-54, but played another outstanding team game that had the talented Wildcats on the ropes for much of the first half.

 

“I’m proud of them, I’m not sure a couple of weeks ago they would have expected this,” said Plymouth head coach Ryan Bales of his seniors. “You’ve got to give them a lot of credit – our seniors – just outstanding, not many teams would have responded the way they have, and you have to give Riley a lot of credit they have an outstanding team.”

 

The Pilgrims had a tale of two seasons with an outstanding January run followed by a very tough February. Their great three game run through the sectional came about after a team meeting after the final regular season game against St. Joe.

 

“I didn’t have a lot of answers at that point,” said Bales. “We had a team meeting. These guys decided they weren’t done. They didn’t quit. They stuck with it. We had to get their mindset right before we did anything. You can practice all you want but if your mind’s not right what good is it doing? I think they got their mindset right in that meeting and we had a great four days of practice getting ready for the sectional. There is just a great chemistry with this group.”

 

Plymouth played the same physical, defensive minded game that pushed them through tough contests with South Bend Clay and tournament favorite South Bend Washington. Able to keep most of the extremely talented Riley roster at bay they had no answer for Reontre Lawrence who became a one man wrecking crew in the third period. Lawrence hit shot after shot, in spite of a stiff defensive effort, and seemed to be in every passing lane on defense. He ended the night with 25 points, five rebounds and three steals to lead his team in each category.

 

“What’s even more impressive about him is his defense,” said Bales of the Wildcat All State candidate. “And the way he carries himself. He competed with Nick Felke and Nick’s not easy to keep in front of you and he played him extremely hard. He’s a great competitor.”

 

“Our kids followed the game plan he (Lawrence) just hit (the shots).”

 

Trailing by as much as 10 late in the game the Pilgrims refused to quit, cutting it to four with under a minute, but couldn’t climb any closer.

 

Cam Eveland ended his career with another outstanding sectional performance to go with his 24 point night on Wednesday – a team high 19 on Saturday.

 

“He played outstanding,” said Bales. “He played great last night for 32 minutes. Our guys were just gutting it out. We expended a lot of energy last night beating a great Washington team. Cam had a great finish to his career. He should be proud of the way he finished his season.”

 

Plymouth ends at 16-9.

 

Score by Quarters

Riley 8 25 43 60

Plymouth 12 20 39 54

 

Riley (60) – Scott 3 3-6 9, Jennings 0 0-0 0, Dillard 3 0-0 7, Anderson 4 0-0 9, Kirk 0 0-0 0, Austin 4 0-0 8, Grundy 0 0-0 0, Marino 1 0-0 2, Marion 0 0-0 0, Lawrence 9 3-4 25. Totals 24 6-10 60.

 

Plymouth (54) – Barron 2 0-0 4, Eveland 6 4-4 19, Carmichael 0 0-0 0, Felke 6 1-1 15, Anders 4 0-1 8, Friar 2 0-0 4, Davidson 1 0-0 3, Tharp 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 5-6 54.

 

3 Pt. FG – Riley 6-21 (Lawrence 4), Plymouth 7-14 (Eveland, Felke 3).

Rebounds – Riley 24 (Dillard 6), Plymouth 31 (Anders 7).

Steals – Riley 8 (Lawrence 3), Plymouth 2 (Eveland, Felke).

Assists – Riley 8 (Dillard, Scott 3), Plymouth 15 (Felke 5).

Turnovers – Riley 7, Plymouth 11

Fouls (Fouled Out) – Riley 13, Plymouth 17.