Preston

PHS boys battle Bridgeport in 67-58 loss

BRIDGEPORT — The Preston High boys’ basketball team (2-7) gave the unbeaten (7-0) and No. 3 Class AA-ranked Bridgeport Indians a battle into the fourth quarter, but Brayden Lesher netted 26 points to help Bridgeport hang on, 67-58, on Jan. 6.

Lesher and PHS’s Cory Pyles engaged in a shootout in the fourth quarter, each scoring 11 points. Pyles wound up with 17 for the game, and Ethan Livengood added six points in the final period and finished with 13.

Preston held a 25-23 halftime lead and trailed just 39-36 through three quarters. “We ran out of gas in the last four minutes,” PHS coach Paul Koontz said. “We’re getting better. They’re ranked third in the state in AA.

“Lesher was the difference (in the fourth), but we countered with Cory Pyles, who scored 11 as well, and Ethan Livengood also had six. We had two guys but that just wasn’t quite enough.”