Carl Parrish's Late Game Heroics Propels Presbyterian to the Big South Semifinals

Recapping Presbyterian's comeback win against Radford.

After a nearly hour-long delay thanks to Longwood and Asheville, we were finally underway with Radford and Presbyterian.

The game began with a series of misses before Lukas Walls got the first 4 points for Radford, both coming off Presbyterian turnovers. Presbyterian got on the board with a Jaylen Peterson layup. Both teams started out ice cold from the field, Presbyterian going 1-8 and Radford going 2-8.

Coming out of the Under 16, someone outside of Lukas Walls found the bottom of the net for Radford, this time it being Del Jones, then followed by a Jaylon Johnson layup after another Presbyterian miss, giving Radford a six-point advantage. Jaylon Johnson hit a massive 3 that led to a Presbyterian timeout after a 7-0 Highlander run.

Presbyterian was unable to score on the ensuing possession and then fouled Brennan Rigsby, sending him to the free-throw line. Rigsby made only one of the two, giving Radford a 10-point lead, which QUICKLY became 12 after a PC turnover and a Radford layup by Tyson Brown. Khalon Hudson was able to put PC back on the board with a turnaround jump to cut that lead back down to 10, which ensued a back-and-forth, which eventually allowed Presbyterian to cut the lead to 7 before Radford burned a timeout.

Radford began the scoring out of the timeout with Del Jones going 1 of 2 at the free throw before Jaylen Peterson made an AND 1 to cut the Radford lead to 5. As the shot clock expired, Lukas Walls drained a 3 to put Radford up 8. After a Presbyterian turnover, Tyson Brown split 1 of 2 free throws before JD Bowden got a steal and layup going the other way.

After a series of near steals, Presbyterian corked off a 3 at the buzzer of the shot clock, which allowed PC to cut Radford’s lead to 5, before once again being extended, this time by Jaylon Johnson, who pushed the lead back to 7. Del Jones hit a fadeaway jumper on the next time-out, which extended Radford’s lead to 9. Chidi Chiakwelu was able to cut that lead to 7 at the free-throw line. Peterson helped do more chipping away with a dunk, cutting the lead to 5, and it seemed it was going to be 5 at halftime, until Del Jones hit a 3 at the buzzer of the shot clock and extended it to 8.

Radford began the 2nd half the same way they ended the 1st half, a Del Jones 3-point play this time, the old-fashioned way. Jonah Pierce with his first points of the 2nd half, coming off a dunk, and another breakaway dunk by Jaylen Peterson, which led to another Zach Chu timeout.

Presbyterian continued to cut into the Radford lead, cutting to 4, and following a Radford miss PC continued to make more cuts into the lead, cutting to 2 with a putback from Jonah Pierce, before Mari Jordan hit a 3 that was QUICKLY negated by Carl Parrish hitting a 3 of his own. Jaylon Johnson hit a 3 to extend that lead back to 5. Another Presbyterian turnover led to Radford extending their lead back out to 7. Radford would then extend it to 10 points on a Jaylon Johnson 3-pointer.

Chidi Chiakwelu opened up the scoring out of the Under 8, with a layup down low for his 10th points of the game. Carl Parrish then hit a deep 3 to cut the lead to 5. Dennis Parker Jr., who had been quiet all night, extended the lead to 7. That then ensured an intense back and forth, as Radford’s Lukas Wall hit a massive AND 1.

Walls would miss the free throw, keeping us at a 7-point advantage for Radford before Triston Wilson hit a 3 to cut it to 4. Del Jones then got sent to the line, which he made both extending it back to a 6-point advantage. Chiakwelu cuts the lead to 4 with a finish in the paint, and Radford heads to the line again, with Brown extending the lead to 5 after making one and missing the other. Pierce was able to cut the lead to 2 points after a goaltending call and an AND 1, which Pierce converted.

Carl Parrish tied the game before the Under 4, and a foul sent Lukas Walls to the line with a 1-and-1. Walls converted the first, missed the second, but an offensive rebound and foul on a Jaylon Johnson 3 sent Johnson to the line with a chance to extend Radford’s lead to 4, which he did. Peterson then went to the line, cutting the Radford lead ONCE AGAIN to 2 points.

Triston Wilson tied the game again with a massive dunk, but a foul after an offensive rebound putback sent Brown to the line for two. Brown missed both, but Dennis Parker gathered the offensive rebound and put it back to a 2-point Radford advantage.

After a Presbyterian timeout, Triston Wilson lost his dribble and then fouled Dennis Parker Jr., sending him to the line, where he missed both, but another offensive rebound led to a Radford 3 by Lukas Walls to extend Radford’s lead to 5. Jaylen Peterson with a big layup to cut Radford’s lead to 3, but Del Jones with a layup on the other end extended it back to 5 points.

After two Presbyterian close misses, Radford got the rebound and was immediately fouled, sending Brown to the line, where he made 1 of 2. Chidi Chiakwelu with a dunk to cut Radford’s lead once again to 4. Then began the fouling game, which actually became interesting after Josh Pickett hit a 3 to cut Radford’s lead to 2, and after 1 more point from Radford. CARL PARRISH GIFTED US FREE BASKETBALL ON A HEAVE FROM THE LOGO.

The overtime began with 2 Lukas Walls free throws, followed by Carl Parrish with a floater in the lane to kept us tied at 79. Chidi Chiakwelu with a massive layup to give PC the lead, then a MASSIVE rebound on the other end. Carl Parrish was sent to the line and made both, giving PC their biggest lead of the game with 4 before Del Jones made a layup to cut the lead to 2.

After Radford called a timeout, Iverson King scored a massive bucket to give Presbyterian a 4-point lead and got a big stop, but PC couldn’t capitalize, which allowed Radford to make a layup on the other end with the foul to cut the lead to 1. Jaylen Peterson with a spinning layup on the other end put PC back up 3 before Del Jones headed to the line with a chance to cut it back to 1, but only made the first and missed the second.

After a BIG challenge that was successful for Presbyterian, PC then had a chance to seal it with the foul game. Then an intentional foul by Dennis Parker Jr sent Peterson to the line, where he made 1 of 2, but more importantly, PC retained possession, which allowed them to extend the lead to 5. Leading to the lovely foul game, which Presbyterian was able to survive and pull out a 91-85 win.

Post Game Recap:

Coach Quinton Ferrell on the importance of this win, “For me it’s just, I tell these guys you got to stay motivated… you got to back on the saddle and ride and keep chopping… these guys have done a great job embodying it and I know these is a lot of guys who played in the last 5 season, since I’ve been the coach that were watching tonight.”

Carl Parrish on being able to play all 45 minutes, “You know, we’ve been preparing since the summer time running on the track, doing conditioning, so I just feel like my body is getting used to playing 40, 45, 30, so I just try to keep myself in the best shape to play those minutes.”

Zach Chu on the playing out the final possession, “After using the foul to give, the clock was so low there was too much risk to foul up 3, in the event they try to catch and shoot.”