By MONTE DUTTON

All was in place for memorable upset on Thursday night.

National TV on ESPNU. By far the biggest crowd of the season. Huge comeback by the Blue Hose. PC even brought in a pep band from Clinton High School. Right up to the end, it was fun.

It was all for naught, a hell of a show, though. High Point (27-4, 15-1 Big South) weathered a furious storm in the latter half. After trailing by 15 points in the former half, Presbyterian (14-16, 7-8) twice led by a point and once by two after the break.

The Panthers wound up winning, 79-73. They won at Qubein Arena, 84-81, on Jan. 29. Only Winthrop (20-10, 12-3), which handed High Point its only conference loss, has played the Panthers tighter than the Blue Hose.

PC, which is going to enter the Air Force Reserve South Championships as the fourth, fifth or sixth seed next week, could beat any team there, but it’s a long shot unless the law of averages catches up in a big hurry. The Hose have won six times and lost six times by 10 or fewer points in the conference, winning by as many as 27 and losing by as many as 19.

“On any given night, we can beat anybody,” said PC head coach Quinton Ferrell said, noting that seventh-place Charleston Southern upset second-place Winthrop, 86-84, on Thursday. “You’ve got to be ready to play every game.”

Presbyterian closes the regular season in Rock Hill on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. versus Winthrop (20-10, 12-3).

Triston Wilson led PC with 17 points. Carl Parrish scored 16, Jaylen Peterson scored 15 points with nine rebounds. Jonah Peterson had 13 and 15. Josh Pickett had 10 points and six assists. Presbyterian won on the boards, 40-32.

“We have the best big-man tandem in the league (with Pierce and Peterson). They’ve been hard to deal with all season long,” Ferrell said.

Rob Martin led the Panthers with 14 points. Terry Anderson scored 13, Owen Aquino and Chase Johnston each added 12, and Scotty Washington had 11.

PC shot .871 (27/31) from the foul line but only .404 (21/54) from the field. High Point shot virtually the same overall and from deep, hitting .428 and .423, respectively. The Panthers canned 14/23 free throws.

The Blue Hose missed their first eight shots and trailed 12-2 after the first five minutes, 11 seconds.

Presbyterian will play at either 5 or 6:30 p.m. next Friday at Freedom Hall in Johnson City, Tenn.

The Presbyterian women (3-24, 1-14) are seeded at the bottom and likely play eighth-seeded USC Upstate (10-19, 5-10) at 5 p.m. Wednesday.

Take a look at the stats here.

Men’s tennis player Dario Navarro is Big South Conference Freshman of the Week. He is the 20^th player in the program’s history to earn the Big South Freshman of the Week award.

Navarro played an integral role in helping the Blue Hose beat Wofford, 4-3, on the road on Feb. 17. At No. 2 doubles, he teamed with Thomas Anderson to post a 6-4 win, which clinched the doubles point for the Blue Hose. Then, he clinched the overall victory for the Blue Hose with PC’s fourth win of the match with a 6-2, 6-4 victory at No. 5 singles.

The Salzburg, Austria native, is tied for the team lead with three singles wins this season. He has teamed with several doubles partners this year.

O’Kevious Conway, Clinton native and former player at Spartanburg Methodist and coach at Westside High School, has been promoted to assistant coach at Presbyterian College.

He joined Elton Pollock’s staff this year as director of player development and recruiting operations.

For the 47^th straight year, the Clinton Family YMCA is hosting free youth/community prayer breakfasts at Broad Street United Methodist Church next Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at 7 a.m.

Rev. Myron Wilkins, who leads Thornwell Charter School’s ministry, is the Tuesday speaker, followed by B.J. Laughter, a former North Carolina coach and administrator who has been on the Fellowship of Christian Athletes staff for six years, on Wednesday, and Josiah Howard, a former North Greenville player and campus minister for the Furman FCA, on Thursday.

Poor field conditions resulted in the postponement of Friday’s boys’ soccer match between Clinton and Laurens. No makeup date has yet been set. Also postponed was the Red Devils’ baseball opener in Greenwood, and the softball tournament at CHS was canceled.

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