By DONN ADAMSON
Daily Journal Sports Editor

Published: Monday, November 30, 2009
Updated: Monday, November 30, 2009 9:47 AM CST

PARK HILLS — The Mineral Area Cardinals won both ends of their Thanksgiving Classic to improve their winning streak to five in a row, but it came down to the final three minutes of Saturday’s game with the Malcolm X Hawks that kept the streak alive.

Drew Thomas rang up a three-pointer to start a 16-0 run for the Cardinals with just over three minutes left in the game as they pulled out a 65-60 win over the hapless Hawks.

Carlton Guyton followed Thomas’s three with one of his own. MAC’s defense stiffened on the other end, and Malcolm X’s shooting went cold, sometimes putting up two or three shots on one trip without scoring.

Thomas hit a second three, finishing with nine points on the night, all in the second half of play, o cut the lead to two, and Al Rapier made the putback off the offensive board to tie the game at 60-60.

Guyton made a runner in the lane with 41.8 seconds left to give Mineral Area their first lead since six minutes left in the first half. They would not trail again. Guyton led all scorers with 16 points in the game.

Malcolm X was plagued with turnovers in the final minutes, something the Cardinals had quite a bit of trouble with in the first half.

A missed shot for the Hawks had their players crashing the boards, but instead the Cardinals broke away for the outlet pass and a feed downcourt to a streaking Thomas. It would have been a sure thing to seal the game, but the defender shoved Thomas from behind to prevent the score and was called for the intentional foul.

Thomas hit the floor hard and it took some time before  he was able to get up from where he landed out-of-bounds, but he sank one of two free throws and with the ball still in MAC’s possession, the Hawks had to foul again. Kaleb Wright calmly sank two more to put the game out of reach with only a couple of seconds left.

The game started off on the wrong foot for Malcolm X as a Hawk took the ball from the opening tip and laid it in for two points, only to discover he had deposited the ball in the wrong hoop, and Mineral Area claimed its first points without taking a shot.

The Cardinals (7-2) kept the lead for five minutes until Michael Ziegler gave the Hawks their first lead at 8-6. MAC retook the lead on a three by Bobby Peebles and a basket by Guyton. The game had only two lead changes in the first 13 minutes, but there would be five lead changes in the minute following, before the Hawks took charge and was able to secure a 36-29 half-time score.

Malcolm X  36  24 - 60

Mineral Area  29  36 - 65

Scoring:

Malcolm X - Bryant 15, Brown 11, Ingram 11, Willis 11, Zeigler 6, Eiland 2, Taylor 2, Henderson 1, Geanes 1.  3 ptrs- Ingram, Bryant.

Mineral Area - Guyton 16, Wright 12, Thomas 9, Harris 8, Peebles 5, Crittendon 5, Rapier 4, Shorter 2, Minner 2.  3 ptrs - Guyton, Thomas, Peebles, Crittendon,