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Parkway's Ethan Pond (42) fights through two Adams Central defenders to go to the basket during Saturday's non-conference game at Panther Gymnasium in Rockford.
ROCKFORD - Days after finding itself on the wrong end of a 64-34 scoreline, Parkway more than doubled that point total and fended off a pesky Adams Central team 72-62 in a border battle Saturday night at Panther Gymnasium.
"The way we came to play, this was a huge win for us," Parkway coach Dough Hughes said. "The guys did a great job of battling throughout and making adjustments."
The Jets (2-6) got the scoring going on a tip-in from Lawson Deathe one minute into the game. The Jets used four points from the senior guard to take a 6-2 lead three minutes into the contest.
Jacoby Triplett's three cut it to a one-point game, and served as a signal for things to come. Neither team missed a shot over the next minute as Parkway took a 12-9 lead after free throws from Nathaniel Stolly halfway through the first quarter.
After a pair of misses, both offenses surged again to end the fast-paced frame. Ethan Pond's and-one and Eli Schumm's three gave the Panthers an 18-14 lead when the horn sounded. Schumm led Parkway with six points in the quarter, while Deathe had a quarter-high 10 points for Adams Central.
Parkway's Eli Schumm (22) goes up for a layup against Adams Central.
Pond and Deathe traded 3-pointers to open the second quarter and the game was tied 23-all after Braylend Reber's free-throws with 5:42 on the clock. The senior wing gave the Jets their first lead of the quarter two minutes later on an and-one as Adams Central took the 28-26 lead.
Parkway responded with Stolly's layup to tie it at 28-all, and Cohen Korte put the Panthers ahead with a make at the line on the next possession. Both teams traded baskets en route to a 35-all game after a Deathe three from way downtown. Korte and Triplett scored the final three points of the half from the line for the hosts and they took a 38-35 lead into the break.
Adams Central kept it close with the stellar play of Deathe and Reber. The duo combined for 29 of the 35 Jets' points, with Johnson adding the other six. Parkway saw four of their five starters get a bucket in the half, with Pond setting the pace with 10 points.
After the Jets won the second quarter 25-20, Parkway used a key adjustment to open up an eight-point lead throughout the third.
"We did a good job of adjusting in the second half," Hughes said. "Our 1-3-1 (defense) was pretty effective and we saved it for the second half. I thought that was a big key, changing defenses and getting stops."
The defense allowed Parkway to work back from an early-quarter 39-38 deficit. Hughes called a timeout with 6:01 on the clock, and the break allowed the Panthers to settle down.
13 of the next 15 points belonged to Parkway and it pushed the hosts ahead 51-41 with under two minutes to go in the quarter. Pond scored four in the paint, while Triplett's layup led to the Parkway lead growing to double-figures.
Adams Central battled back and closed the quarter on a small 4-1 run to make it a single-digit game heading into the final quarter. The Jets were just three-of-seven from the field, but found success by getting to the line. Parkway's 14-point quarter was centered around balance. Four players scored in the quarter with Pond's four the team-high over the eight minutes.
Parkway's Nathaniel Stolly (12) goes up for a basket as Adams Central's Drew Johnson defends.
It was crunch time entering the fourth, and Parkway needed someone to step up to close out the Jets. The answer was in Korte, as his layup opened the scoring in the fourth. The guard flew past the defense on the following possession, found Pond in the corner and seconds later it was a 57-44 lead for Parkway.
"We got (Korte) downhill and he drove, got the help from Ethan Pond's man and he nailed the three in the corner. That was a huge play," Hughes said.
Korte led the Panthers with 13 points in the quarter, and crucially did not miss a single free-throw in the final frame.
Adams could only get the deficit to single digits twice in the quarter, and could never get the margin below seven. After the lead changed 12 times over the first three quarters, Parkway controlled the game in the fourth and took home a big win over the Jets.
On the other sideline, the Jets' only had three scorers in the contest, with Deathe and Reber combining for 51 points while Johnson finished with 11.
"(Deathe) came out and was on fire," Hughes said postgame. "He didn't miss a lot of shots tonight and made a lot of big shots for them."
Parkway has a quick turnaround, returning to action on Tuesday as St. Marys comes to Rockford.
