Comeback comes up short: Pioneers still winless after Saturday loss

Josh Moore (25) pursues Clarksville NOrthwest?s Zamarius Mclendon during the first half of Saturday night?s game at the Dr Pepper Thanksgiving Classic.

The Pioneers, who dropped to 0-3 with the loss, found themselves down by 10 at the close of the third quarter, and trailed 57-44 with less than five minutes to play. But after a Chase Officer bucket, Jared Vanatta and Dustin Holland scored a pair of unanswered baskets to pull the home squad within double digits at 58-50.

Donta Weir nailed a 3-pointer, Casey Talbert followed with a steal and a layup, and Josh Moore ? seeing his first action of the year ? hit another trey with 1:40 to play to trim the deficit to a basket at 60-58.

Northwest held on to its slim led with a bucket from Marques Rudolph, but led by just a point after Vanatta hit a clutch 3-pointer with 38 ticks remaining.

Fouling to stop the clock, the Pioneers sent Rudolph to the line, where he hit one of two, but Moore missed a 3-pointer with 10 seconds left which would have given the home team the lead.

Vanatta quickly fouled Greg Vann, who hit one of two with eight seconds left to give the Vikings a 65-62 lead, and Weir?s attempt at a game-tying shot rang off the front of the rim as the final horn sounded.

Weir led the Pioneers with 17 points, while Vanatta and Moore had 10 each and Talbert added eight.

The Vikings, who led 14-11 after a quarter and 35-27 by halftime, were led by Zamarius Mclendon?s 20-point night, while Rudolph added 16 and Dwayne Chambers scored 13 points.

The Pioneers begin their District 7-AAA schedule Friday, with a road trip to Siegel.