(Justin Allen had game-high scoring honors, a double-double, & this #BOOM in East's win)
In a season where the race for the Yale Cup is as open as its been in a long time, two perennial contenders took the court to renew an old city rivalry on Monday night in the 'Game of the Week'. McKinley is the two-time defending champion and has won four of the last five Yale Cups, but found itself in the unfamiliar position of looking up at East in the standings coming in. The Macks left Northampton looking even farther up.
East High got three players in double figures and led nearly the entire contest for a 63-58 victory over the visiting Macks. It was the first win over McKinley since 2014 and first at home since 2011. The Panthers are now tied for first place in the Yale Cup I standings with South Park, who defeated Middle College in the league's other notable game last night. East has defeated South Park once already this season.
Following the victory, East coach Starling Bryant was less than jubilant about his squad's overall performance and pointed to a lack of effort & execution.
"I wasn't pleased with the overall effort," Bryant said. "I thought we played sloppy, we didn't box out very well, and we didn't follow the game plan very well. If we don't do a better job with that, we won't be around very long."
The Panthers used an early 11-0 run to take a 13-8 lead into the second quarter. But a 9-3 response from McKinley early in the second frame erased East's lead as a 3-pointer from Nakye Booze went in to give the Macks a 17-16 advantage. Willard Anderson quickly got his Panthers back in front and provided a spark in the process. The junior took a steal the other direction and finished at the rim with a dunk. On the next series, he converted a steal into an assist to teammate Justin Allen, who also bent the rim with a #BOOM for East. The dunks ignited a 15-3 surge that put the Panthers back in front, 31-20.
McKinley's offense was struggling to score consistently against the 2-3 zone East was imploring. However, neither coach credited the Panthers for that following the game.
"They had a tough time shooting from the outside," said Bryant.
"We didn't pass the ball well against the 2-3 zone and in their gym, there's not a lot of space," added McKinley coach Zaire Dorsey. "It's an effective zone in their gym."
The Panthers took their largest lead of the game in the third quarter, thanks to a fast scoring spree from junior forward Jahahd Maryon. In a one minute span, Maryon scored seven of his 16 points. It began with a the conversion of a three-point play, followed by two more buckets to stretch the East lead to 47-32. In the first half, Maryon had connected on a pair of trifectas.
"He hit some nice shots so the next time we play them, we'll see if he can hit them again," Dorsey said. "We'll give him the shots again and if he can hit them, we'll live with it."
The Macks made a run to start the fourth quarter after cutting the deficit to 11 points heading into the frame. An 8-1 push cut the East lead to just four points with five minutes left in the game. However, Allen would quickly restore the Panthers' edge to eight points with two free throws and a tough score in the paint. He netted eight of his 19 points in the final stanza and turned in a solid overall performance that included 10 rebounds and two steals.
"They were sending two and sometimes three guys at Willard, basically daring us to have someone else step up," said Bryant. "Justin Allen & Jahahd Maryon did a wonderful job of stepping up."
Free throw shooting for East was a glaring issue in the game. AJ Stevens made both of his attempts from the stripe and Maryon connected on 4/5 tosses. Beyond that, the rest of the team shot 50% or below and the Panthers made just 21 of 40 free throws as a team. McKinley didn't fare much better, sinking just 9/17 from the line.
"If you can't make free throws, you won't go very far in the playoffs," Bryant said.
Anderson finished the game with 15 points, six assists, and three steals. Waunya Shaw scored six points and grabbed 10 rebounds, while Taijuan Littlejohn added five points and nine boards.
Booze led the Macks with 15 points and Davonti Wardlaw chipped in 11 points in the loss.
East is at Hutch-Tech on Thursday for a 4:30 pm tip, while McKinley visits South Park that night at 6 pm.
McKinley 8 - 18 - 12 - 20 = 58
East High 13 - 21 - 15 - 14 = 63
Point Totals
East: Justin Allen 19, Jahahd Maryon 16, Willard Anderson 15, Waunya Shaw 6, Taijuan Littlejohn 5, AJ Stevens 2
McKinley: Nakye Booze 15, Davonti Wardlaw 12, Jaylin Winsor 8, Emir Evans 8, Taivonne Martin 8, Kavon Rogers 5, Deon Spencer 2
- centercourt
Justin is a double double machine for East. He can go.
Posted by: coach g | Tuesday, January 31, 2017 at 01:11 PM