Chargers upend Cavs
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| Members of the 2009-10 Middlesex High School boys varsity basketball team include, kneeling from left, Stanley Redmon, Davonne Bryant, Jasper Smith, Michael Bess, Donovan Jones, Sean Sutherlin and Kris Baylor; standing, Scott Payne, Cody Hunter, Ryheem Lockley, Tayvon Morning, Jeremiah Morris, Markus Hammond and Jeromy Rich. Not pictured are head coach Patrick Wellar and assistants Chris DiFulvio and Jason Daniel. (Photo by Tom Chillemi) |
Middlesex earned a huge 49-43 Tidewater District win at King William Friday night to improve its district record to 2-2 and stay in the hunt for the regular season boys basketball title.
The Charger defense held King William’s All-Region 6’9” center Akeem Holmes to only 9 points in the game. “We had seen him score 35 on West Point so our game plan was to make somebody else on their team beat us. The guys did a great job on him collectively,” said MHS coach Patrick Weller.
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| MHS guard Michael Bess (with ball) scored 17 points in the win over King William. (Photo by Larry Chowning) |
The Chargers trailed 15-13 at the end of the first quarter but outscored the Cavaliers 15-4 in the second quarter to take a 28-19 lead at the half. Middlesex would never trail the rest of the game.
Behind an aggressive press, King William cut the MHS lead to 4 points in the third quarter but the Chargers were able to regroup and lead by 8 to 10 points throughout most of the fourth quarter.
Key to the Middlesex win was its free throw shooting. The Chargers hit 14 of 20 attempts (70%), which offset 20 turnovers.
“The trio of Ryheem Lockley, Cody Hunter and Tayvon Morning all had a good night on the backboards,” said Weller. “Jeremiah Morris also played well, scoring 8 points and playing better on the defensive end than he has all year to this point.”
Others to score for MHS were Lockley and Hunter with 7 points apiece, and Morning and Davonne Bryant with 5 each.
Lockley had a team-high 7 rebounds, Hunter and Morning 6 apiece, and Morris 5. Lockley also had 4 blocks, 5 assists and 2 steals. Hunter added 2 assists and 2 steals.
The Chargers (2-2, 5-7) have four district games remaining. They will host Mathews this Friday, February 5; will host West Point on Monday, February 8; will visit King William on Friday, February 12. The scheduled February 2 game at King and Queen was postponed due to snow and a make-up date has not been set.
“With four games to go, the district standings are really bunched up with a lot of big games left for all the teams,” said Weller. “It should be an exciting finish to the regular season.”
Mathews leads the district at 4-1 and is followed by King William (3-2), West Point (3-2), Middlesex (2-2) and King and Queen (0-5).
