The Arabians took on the heavily favored Greenfield Central Cougars in the first round of the sectional tonight, falling 72-47. The Cougars would score first with a corner three, followed by a pair of free throws after a PH turnover, but Cooper Sims would then hit his first three of the night to make the score 5-3. Greenfield would answer with another three, but the Arabians persevered through another turnover and turned a Hayden Fox offensive rebound into another Sims 3-pointer. Two possessions later, Sims would hit his 3rd triple of the game to put the Arabians up 9-8 halfway through the first quarter. However, the Arabians would give up three offensive rebounds in the next minute, finally resulting in a bucket that reclaimed the lead for the Cougars, 10-9. As Pendleton looked to protect the ball towards the end of the quarter, Greenfield would find instant offense as soon as they got the ball back, and in a flash the score was 17-9 in favor of the Cougars, forcing an Arabians timeout. Sims would knock down another triple after the timeout, but Greenfield had one to match on their final possession of the quarter, and the score at the end of the first would be 20-12 in favor of GC. The second quarter started with missed shots and turnovers by the Arabians, and the Cougars would grow their lead to 25-13 before taking their first timeout two-and-a-half minutes into the second quarter. The Arabians would execute out of the timeout, finding Cooper Sims for the layup, but GC answered right back with a deep three. Fox responded with a triple of his own for PH, which was followed up by another two from Sims, and the Arabians would pull within eight, 28-20. However, that would be the closest they would get for the rest of the game, as the Cougars' pressure and solid offensive play gave them seven of the last eight points in the half. The halftime tally would be 35-21, Greenfield Central. The second half brought much of the same, as the Cougars executed and scored on their first two possessions of the half. Evan Mozingo would glide to the basket for the hoop and the harm to score the first points of the half for the Arabians, but they just could not get the stops they needed on the other end of the floor. After another PH timeout with 5:15 left in the third, the Arabians came out with two big assists from Fox. First he found Joe Estes for a layup on a half-court pass over the top of the press, and then he found Mozingo for a three-pointer, cutting the lead back to 43-29. However, a triple by the Cougars would squash the brief Pendleton run, and despite a charge taken by Fox, the Cougars would once again finish the quarter strong, leading 54-32 after three. The Arabians had a few chances early in the fourth, but could not hit the shots they needed to cut back into the deficit. On the other end, the Cougars continued to score and the game started to get away from the Arabians. Isaac Weaver came in to provide a spark with a deep three-pointer from the top, followed by an inside basket by Sam Baker off the bench. Ethan Hannaford also came in to knock down a pair of corner threes, but the Cougars kept pace with the bench scoring of the Arabians, riding their early lead to a 72-47 victory. Sims once again led the way for Pendleton Heights with 19 points. Senior Evan Mozingo scored 9 in his final game for the Arabians, and Fox dished out 6 assists from the point to go along with 3 points and 3 rebounds. Brandt Gray was also distributing for the Arabians tonight, giving 3 assists to go with his 2 points. Also suiting up one last time for the Arabians, senior Joe Estes scored 3 points with 2 rebounds, and senior Ethan Hannaford added 6 points.