Moore’s late free throws help Central claw way into Class 1A sectional championship game

ABINGDON, Ill. — Camp Point Central boys basketball James Barnett had complete faith Nick Moore was going to drain the game-clinching free throws no matter what had happened a minute earlier.

“It might seem weird, but I felt more confident he was going to make those two because he had missed the previous two,” Barnett said. “He’s one of those guys who is not going to let it affect him. He’s going to make that little bit of adjustment, forget it and move on.”

Moore missed two free throws with 1 minute, 17 seconds remaining in regulation and the Panthers clinging to a three-point lead over Peoria Heights in Tuesday night’s Class 2A Abingdon-Avon Sectional semifinal.

However, with 9.9 seconds remaining and the advantage just two points, Moore calmly swished both free-throw attempts to cement the Panthers’ 48-44 victory.

“When we got to that point, we wanted the ball in his hands,” Barnett said.

That will be the case if they find themselves in that situation again Friday when the Panthers (24-8) will face either Illini Bluffs or Peoria Christian in the sectional championship. The Tigers and Chargers square off in their semifinal matchup at 7 p.m. Wednesday.

Illini Bluffs beat Central 54-46 in last year’s sectional championship.

But the Panthers aren’t going to concern themselves with a rematch just yet. Wednesday’s practice will be about regrouping and readying themselves for whichever team they face.

“Tomorrow is on us,” Barnett said of Wednesday’s practice. “We’re going to get some shots up and shoot some free throws. When you have a couple days, you take a day to worry about you and get some rest and get some shots. We’ll regroup on Thursday when we know who we have.”

The Panthers looked like they were on the verge of putting the game away after Moore made two free throws with 2:07 to go for a 43-37 advantage. However, Drew Paben missed a pair of free throws and Moore missed his two tries while the Patriots’ Camron Williams made a 3-pointer in between to make it a three-point game.

Williams then hit 2 of 3 free throws with 1:01 to play to pull Peoria Heights within 43-42.

Paben made 3 of 4 free throws over a 30-second span and the Patriots were held without a field goal the final minute.

“We got some big stops down the stretch,” Barnett said. “That was the big thing. We got the stops and got the rebounds because we weren’t making free throws. So stops were big.

“We were doing just enough to make it difficult on (Peoria Heights), but not enough to make it easy on me.”

Moore led the Panthers with 19 points, while senior forward Gavin Blewett had 13 points and eight rebounds and took advantage of an adjustment by the Central coaching staff that switched where he and Moore lined up in their offensive sets.

“He got the ball on the right wing and was able to attack,” Barnett said of Blewett. “Nick did a good job of spacing. We were able to get Nick open on the baseline or on the weak side, and we were able to get a number of buckets out of that in the third quarter.”