Moore never loses confidence, hits 3-pointer in final minute to help Central reach semifinals at Macomb

MACOMB, Ill. — It’s a good thing Central’s Nick Moore has a short memory.

His 3-pointer with 3:10 remaining in the fourth quarter cut West Hancock’s lead to 47-45. Thirty seconds later, Moore launched what could have been the go-ahead shot from the corner.

Instead, the ball hit the support behind the backboard.

“That wasn’t too pretty,” Moore said with a grin. “I don’t even know what that was.”

When Central needed a basket in the final minute, though, Moore came through.

Moore came off a screen, caught a pass at the top of the key and drained a 3-pointer to break a 47-47 tie with 58 seconds to go. Central then made 6 of 6 free throws in the final 37 seconds to defeat West Hancock 56-52 in the quarterfinals of the 76^th annual Macomb-Western Holiday Tournament in Western Hall. 

The fourth-seeded Panthers (9-2) will play at 1 p.m. Friday in the semifinals against Illini Bluffs, which eliminated top-seeded Rockridge 61-56 in overtime on Wednesday.

Central led 42-39 early in the fourth quarter when it suffered through six consecutive empty possessions. The Titans (12-3) scored eight straight points, the last two coming on a layup by Alec Hymes after a Central turnover, to go ahead 47-42 with 5:35 remaining.

The Panthers blew a 10-point lead in the first half and a nine-point lead in the third quarter, but Central coach James Barnett was pleased to see his team recover.

“It’s a dual learning experience, I guess,” Barnett said. “We’ve got to remember that even though we get leads, teams aren’t going to lay down. They’re going to keep battling, especially a conference team like that who we see all the time. It’s good that when get when we do get punched like that, we step up. We’re like, ‘Oh, shoot, we’ve got to start playing now.

“It’s good. It’s bad to see, but it’s a learning experience. It’s good to see us respond to it.”

Moore said the Titans’ defense had been forcing him to his left most of the game, so he gave the ball up to Carter Eyler on the left side instead of Isaac Genenbacher on the right. After cutting through the lane, Moore used a screen from Eyler and took a pass from him to take the winning shot.

“My confidence hadn’t dropped at all,” Moore said.

The junior guard made 8 of 13 shots from the field and led the Panthers with 20 points. 

Titans coach Jeff Dahl considered the loss a missed opportunity to beat one of the area’s best teams. West Hancock held Central to 40 percent shooting and outrebounded the Panthers 31-21, but the problem that has nagged the Titans all season — turnovers — continued again Wednesday.

The Titans had 22 turnovers, and four of them came in the final 4:30 of the game. Senior guard Bryan Gerhardt, who averages 11 points and six assists, injured his ankle on Tuesday against Canton (Ill.) and was limited to 11 minutes against Central. He took only one shot and didn’t score against the Panthers.

“We’re trying to get through it, and I think we will, because they hate it,” Dahl said. “They don’t like how they feel right now. The silver lining is that we had 22 turnovers, we didn’t have one of our leading scorers, and we still had a chance to win.”

Senior Luke Jacquot had 18 points and nine rebounds to lead the Titans, and Hymes added 16 points.