FALMOUTH — If there’s such a thing as making a 45-point game look easy, Pendleton County’s Dontaie Allen did it on Monday night when Augusta came up the AA Highway to play the Wildcats.
The University of Kentucky signee dropped 45 as he’s now nine shy from 3,000 career points in a 95-59 victory over the Panthers.
“Really towards the beginning it was seeing how they were playing us. Different teams play us different ways,” Allen said, who shot 17-0f-30 from the field with zero turnovers. “They started off kind of hedging me and trying to keep me out of the game, at that point it was get my teammates open and it started opening up after they started hitting shots and that’s pretty much how the flow of the game came about.”
Allen has put a priority on rebounding this season and it showed as he turned multiple defensive rebounds into coast-to-coast transition baskets and also had multiple second-chance points, ending with 12 rebounds. A lot of his points came in the paint, but still displayed his range knocking down four 3-pointers on the evening.
“His body control is just remarkable how he can just make a difficult play look easy. I don’t know if he broke a sweat tonight to be honest with you,” Wildcats coach Keaton Belcher said. “Credit goes to his work ethic and what he’s done and how far he’s come. Honestly, I don’t think he’s come close to scratching the surface of his full potential. He’s going to be a special player, I think he can become an NBA draft pick.”
Pendleton utilized their zone offense effectively early on as they jumped out to a 21-8 lead after eight minutes of play.
Turnovers have been an issue for Augusta in the early stages of the season and it showed after the first 11 minutes of play, committing seven of them as the Wildcats built their lead to 30-10, Tredyn Thomas being one of the main beneficiaries of the Panthers’ mishaps, scoring 13 first half points.
Preston Philpot kept the Panthers in it before the half, knocking down 3-pointers on three of four Augusta possessions to make it a 38-21 game with 2:18 to go before the break.
The spurtability Pendleton can show was on display as they scored 10 points in the final 70 seconds in the half, building a 50-30 lead by the break.
“Playing fast is not our game and it fell into their hands tonight,” Panthers coach Roger Newton said. “That’s something we need to work on. We need to utilize our possessions better and work the clock more in the half court.”
Belcher stressed to his team at the break on how they needed to come out with a good first couple minutes of the second half.
“Last two games against Bracken County and Clark County, that’s what really hurt us. We lost at Clark County and Bracken County came back and got within three. We really did a better job of opening up the second half with an uptempo and enthusiasm and effort,” Belcher said.
Allen took note.
The senior scored 10 points in the first five minutes of the third to give Pendleton a 65-36 advantage, piling up 13 points in the quarter and getting him within 18 points of the illustrious 3,000-point marker, something only 34 other players have done in KHSAA history.
Then came a tough call for Belcher and his staff. Allen, sitting at 45 points with a little over five minutes remaining and needing nine for the mark on his home floor, was substituted out, not destined to return for the remainder with his team leading, 81-49.
“I talked with our staff during the game and we made a collective team decision to pull Dontaie out. The big thing is I respect those guys so much at Augusta and their coaching staff. Robin Kelsch has been a great friend of mine for a long time,” Belcher said. “Not to mention, we have four games this week so we need to save some legs and feel like we made the right decision.”
Philpot continued his solid night from there for the Panthers, scoring their final nine points on his way to a team-high 22 points for the night. Although the score may not have reflected it, the learning experience for the Panthers was a good one, especially seventh grader Blake Reed.
Reed was given his first career varsity start, coming off a career-high 19 points against Magoffin County on Saturday. His first task…getting guarded by Allen.
“I thought he handled it really well and it shows the potential he has in this region moving forward,” Newton said. “He got his shot blocked a few times and it didn’t bother him one bit. He stayed aggressive and we’re very excited for his future.”
Reed would end the night with 11 points as Augusta dropped to 1-6 on the year. Joseph Mains also put together a solid night, scoring eight points off the bench, while big man Stephen Cordle added eight as well. They’ll look to snap a four-game losing streak when they play at Ripley on Saturday.
“We’ve got to work on taking better care of the ball. We’ve shown we can compete, we just need to learn to play with a lead and take care of the ball. I like the progress we’ve made, we’re not happy with our record but I feel like if we can clean up some of these mistakes, we’ll start seeing some of these results turn the other way,” Newton said.
Pendleton County now moves forward to their most important game of the season to date, a 38th District seed game in Mount Olivet against Robertson County. The Wildcats enter with a 5-2 record and are 1-0 in the district. Robertson County is 4-0 and has yet to play a game in the district for the highly anticipated matchup Wednesday. Game time is set for 6 p.m. as the Robertson-Pendleton girls’ game will follow for a doubleheader.
“We’re going to have to go in there and battle and hopefully tough that one out and get a district seeding win,” Allen said. “Coach Belcher has been stressing that one, we’re definitely going to prepare and work hard for that one.”
Thomas had a career-high 15 points for Pendleton on the evening while Clay Monroe tossed in 12.
WILDCATS 95, PANTHERS 59
AUGUSTA—8-22-15-14—59
PENDLETON COUNTY—21-29-22-23—95
Scoring:
Augusta (59) — Philpot 22, Reed 11, Cordle 8, Mains 8, Appelman 7, Fouts 2, White 1
Pendleton (95) — Allen 45, Thomas 15, Monroe 12, Booth 6, Sullivan 3, Kidwell 3, Brownfield 3, Gregg 3, Barnard 3, Pugh 2
3-Pointers Made: Augusta 6 (Philpot 4), Pendleton 11 (Allen 4)
Free Throws: Augusta 8/14, Pendleton 11/14
Rebounds: Augusta 24 (Cordle 6), Pendleton 34 (Allen 12)
Turnovers: Augusta 15, Pendleton 7
Records: Augusta 1-6, Pendleton County 5-2
