(East's Damone Brown goes up inside against Middle College)
One thing I've learned over the years from watching East play in the Yale Cup, they don't quit, and a substantial lead on them doesn't mean a whole lot. A couple weeks ago, the Panthers went into McKinley and nearly overcame a 19-point deficit with 11 minutes remaining in the game, as they stormed back to have an opportunity to tie the game at the end, missing a '3' at the buzzer of a 73-70 loss. Yesterday, East found itself in a similar position against Middle College. But as the Panthers faced a large double-digit second half deficit, East coach Starling Bryant began yelling to his team as they quickly set up their defense each trip down the court, "hands up". Here we go I thought. And sure enough, one possession at a time, they kept their hands up and the Kats' scoring down, until they trailed no longer.
Percy Bryant turned in a heroic performance, finishing with a game-high 26 points, and leading by example in East's 69-62 comeback win over Middle College.
A blistering pace to start the game seemed to favor Middle College, as junior sniper Jo Jo Staton continued piled up 19 first half points with his team finding him on the perimeter. Staton had the long ball going, sinking four treys in the half. He also converted a three-point play and stepped inside the arc on the baseline to smoothly sink a long jumper.
East did a decent job of matching the shooting of Staton, with three first quarter long range bombs, two from Bryant and another from Damone Brown, but the Kats were also thriving in the paint. Brian Johnson was strong inside for Middle College, clearing the glass and adding nine first half points. Senior Isaiah Jenkins and juniors Fred Foster & Lorenzo Truitt all combined to make scoring in the paint difficult for East and second chance baskets near impossible to come by.
After taking a 41-28 lead at halftime, Staton banged another 3-pointer in the first minute of the third quarter to push the Middle College advantage to 44-29. But then the tides began to shift. It started with Bryant doing what he does best, racing down the court and slicing through traffic to answer the '3' from Staton with a layup within seconds of the ref bringing his arms down to signal the Kats' triple. Then Brown got into the act, scoring a series of baskets inside, from post moves to putbacks. Brown scored nine points in the third quarter, points that seemed much more difficult to come by in the first half. The Panthers were feeding off of their defensive energy, while conversely, the frustration from Middle College began to show. East scored the last eight points of the quarter, including a basket at the end of the quarter from Zion Morrison, and the Panthers were down just a point, 49-48, heading to the fourth.
East kepts it foot on the gas in the final frame and managed to maintain its intensity, even when Middle College's Fred Foster rocked the rim on what could have been a momentum shifter. Freshman Willard Anderson and senior big Jovell Littlejohn had key contributions down the stretch for East, but it was Percy Bryant's warrior-like performance that really made the difference. Playing on a badly bruised hip, to the point where his limp was noticable, Bryant ran just fine and faster than anyone else on the court. After East gained the lead at the start of the fourth, Bryant scored timely baskets to thwart any thoughts the Kats has of winning. With 1:09 left in the game, Billy Rivera sank a '3' from the corner for Middle College to make it a one-point game. It was Bryant who scored the game's next four points to seal the Panthers' win.
Following the win, East coach Starling Bryant talked about his halftime adjustments.
"We wanted to make some adjustments on sending our top guy in the zone down in the middle. They were beating us there, it was wide open, so we moved a player down to take away that middle pass", Bryant said. "We improved our boxing out & rebounding and also sat down on them. We had been standing up on them a little too high, and we communicated better - we located Jo Jo - we was getting too many open looks".
Beyond the tactical changes, Bryant thought the rest of it was attitude and mindset.
"I think the emotion and intensity elevated a little. I've been telling these guys all year, if you play with that intensity, you can beat anybody", Bryant said. "We got more consistent and once we started going - that's how we should play, we haven't in weeks".
Probably since around the second half of that loss at McKinley. If East can find that consistency, look out.
Brown finished with 19 points for the Panthers, while Littlejohn and Anderson each added 10 points.
Staton had a team-high 22 points for the Kats, Foster scored 14 points, and Johnson chipped in 11 points.
-centercourt
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