Knightstown Head Coach Dusty Magee talks to his team during a timeout at Union City.
UNION CITY, Ind. – No matter how a team has played during a game, it’s important to be on top at the buzzer.
That’s how things worked out for the Knightstown boys basketball team on Friday night as the Panthers posted a 50-48 victory over Union City.
Jose Olivo drilled a 3-pointer with 52 seconds left to give the Panthers their first lead since the opening moments.
“That was a monster shot,” Knightstown Head Coach Dusty Magee said of what turned out to be the game-winning score in the Tri-Eastern Conference affair
The Panthers led briefly at 5-3 in the first period, but Union City eventually worked its way to a double-digit margin at 30-17 early in the third quarter.
Olivio’s trey capped a rally that took most of the night to complete.
Union City led 12-8 after one and 26-17 at the half, but the Panthers had closed the gap to 40-35 heading into the final stanza.
“It was the definition of ugly,” Magee said. “At halftime, we regrouped. We definitely played harder in the second half. Usually, the team that plays harder, you get the breaks. Down the stretch, we got some breaks.”
“We got some bounces our way and that’s not happened for us all year,” he continued. “It’s nice to be on that end of it.”
The last of those bounces came as Jarred Porter missed his final free throw attempt with 3.5 seconds remaining.
“The ball went right back to him,” Magee said. “That was the first time I took a deep breath. A win is a win and you can’t take it away from us.”
Olivo led the Panthers with 16 points, while Porter finished with nine points and six rebounds.
Garrett Thomas added eight points and Lane Parker scored seven points.
Union City was led by Wes Mote and Trevor Spence, who each had 13 points.
Zerrin Cantu had nine points. Cameron Luster grabbed a team-high five rebounds.
The Panthers won the JV contest 54-33 as Jack Fort led the way with 16 points.
James Lukens tossed in 11 points. Matthew Craft had nine and Josiah Moore eight.
For the Indians, John Carpenter, Jacob Moore and Gavin Teeter all had six points.
Union City (2-5, 0-3) faces ninth-ranked Morristown (7-1) in the Wheeler Tournament at the Hoosier Gym in Knightstown on Friday, Dec. 29.
Knightstown (3-5, 3-1) travels to Waldron (2-8) on Saturday, Dec. 30.