JEWELL – Take a bow, Luke Greiner. You certainly earned it.

With the clock closing in on triple zeroes and all eyes on him, Prairie City-Monroe’s feisty junior guard blocked out the pressure, not to mention a hand in his face, and drilled a runner from the free throw line with 1.5 seconds left to stun South Hamilton in the season opener for both teams on Coach Jim Marsh Court Tuesday night.

Greiner’s tough basket gave PCM just its second lead of the game, and a defensive stand on a desperation pass out of a timeout gave the Mustangs a 55-54 victory over the Hawks in a match-up of teams considered favorites to contend for the conference title this winter.

It was a hard punch to the gut for South Hamilton (0-1, 0-1 HOIC), which led by as many as 10 points in the first quarter. The Hawks had multiple chances to finish PCM (1-0, 1-0 HOIC) off in the final minute, but they missed the front end of a 1-and-1 on two occasions.

The squandered opportunities came back to bite them in the behind.

“The whole game we thought we had it,” South Hamilton junior forward Collin Hill said. “Give them credit because they made some tough shots, but it’s definitely frustrating.”

Collin Hill played textbook defense on Greiner on the pivotal play of the game and had a hand in the face of the Mustang guard as both left the ground.

“Hat’s off to him. He made tough shots all night,” Collin Hill said.

Greiner led all scorers with 20 points and teammate Logan Gilman did a little bit of everything with 14 points, nine rebounds, two steals and two assists.

Playing for the first time in nearly 21 months, Collin Hill went off for 18 points, eight rebounds and three assists.

PCM shot 53 percent from the field (25 of 47), including 68 percent inside the arc (23 of 34).

South Hamilton owned a 9-2 edge in 3-point baskets and shot 47 percent overall (18 of 38). Seven of the triples came in the opening half.

Still, the Hawks will look back and kick themselves for letting it slip away. The free throws were glaring, as was the team’s lack of points in transition – a perceived strength entering the season.

“It’s frustrating because I know what my guys are capable of,” South Hamilton head coach Nathan Hill said. “I thought we had too many moments in the game where we lost our composure and we had too many mental breakdowns.”

It was 20-10 in the Hawks’ favor late in the first quarter when PCM made the defensive switch that turned the tide. A 1-3-1 trapping zone gave South Hamilton fits over the final 26 minutes.

“They’re good at it and they’ve played it for years,” Nathan Hill said. “But we quit attacking.”

PCM took its first lead of the game at 41-40 on a Elijah Sperfslage bucket with 3 minutes left in the third quarter, but South Hamilton quickly answered and took a 44-43 edge into the final period.

A Marco Balderas 3 from the right wing, his third of the game, with 2:50 to go broke a 49-49 tie. Collin Hill’s final bucket of the game – a driving jumper with 1:40 remaining – put the Hawks in front 54-51.

Collin Hill forced a turnover with 30 ticks to go and South Hamilton in front 54-53, but a missed free throw with 16 seconds on the clock gave Greiner the opportunity to be the hero.

“If we hit free throws and do a few other little things down the stretch we seal the deal,” Nathan Hill said. “But those are the breaks of the game.”

South Hamilton shot just 60 percent at the stripe (9 of 15).

Balderas popped off for 13 points, and he also distributed three assists. Trey Woodall canned three first-half treys for nine points and Conner Hill, just a freshman, came off the Hawks’ bench to provide seven points.

Landon Quam added six points and three assists in the loss. Woodall also dished out three assists.

It’s just one game, sure, but Nathan Hill says plenty was at stake.

“We have lofty goals, there’s no secret about that,” he said. “We want to be the top team in the conference. But it’s a long season.”

South Hamilton will attempt to rebound on Saturday when it travels to State Center for a non-conference test against West Marshall.