Morrow, GA (December 28, 2019) — The third game of the South Atlanta Invitational featured the Benjamin E. Mays Raiders (Atlanta, GA) and Morrow Mustangs (Ellenwood, GA).
The first quarter was slow for both teams, but especially for the Raiders who could not get their shots to fall and were sluggish on defense. Morrow was able to beat the Raider defense and get point down low giving them a lead that they carried into the second quarter, 12-8. In the second quarter, the Raiders were not able to find themselves offensively, and Morrow was able to run the score up.
At the end of the second quarter, Morrow had gained a 15 point lead and went into the half up 36-21 over Mays. Junior Kristopher Brown led Mays with nine points and junior Deryle Denson and senior Khari Morgan both led Morrow with seven points at the half.
Morrow continued to control the game until under four minutes in the third quarter when Mays began to get stops that pulled them within seven, 40-33. Mays incorporated size and length early in the third quarter with Chris Carter and Hayden Wyatt, but they still could not get into an offensive rhythm until freshman Saulamon Evans drained a three-pointer (45-36). The Raiders’ defense then was sparked and Evans followed his three-pointer with a steal that created more offensive opportunities. With 20 seconds left in the quarter, Wyatt drew the and-one call to pull the Raiders within seven. The Raiders ended the third quarter with a defensive stop taking them into the fourth quarter trailing by only seven points.
Although Morrow was the first to score in the fourth quarter, the quarter belonged to the Raiders. Mays continued to make stops despite the slow offensive night, and eventually, they were able to pull within ten-points after senior KyMiest Johnson took two big trips to the free-throw line (58-48). The Raiders were able to get good defensive stops, but could not buy enough buckets to match their defensive efforts. Despite aggressive drives into the paint, the Raiders could not capitalize and Morrow continued to increase their lead, 63-50. With under two minutes left to play in regulation, Morrow recorded their biggest lead of the night, 16 points (66-50).
Mays’ slow start hurt them in the end as Morrow maintained their lead and cruised to a 13-point win, 70-57.
Game Statistics:
- Mykel Williams led Mays in scoring with 22 points
- Mays controlled the boards with 7 offensive rebounds and 8 defensive rebounds
- Eight of the 9 players for Morrow registered points
- Morrow made 15 free-throws compared to five from Mays
Coach’s Comments:
On today’s performance…
“Our performance tonight was based on the team’s performance… everybody chipped in. We forced a lot of turnovers because they had a lot of young guards. Looked at their roster, and they had a lot of freshmen that had to play a lot. With that being said, we did a lot of pressing. We capitalized tonight.”
On the game plan against Mays…
“Our mentality was to make them young players do something they’re uncomfortable doing. When you’re coming from middle school to high school… two things… it’s a lot faster and the kids are a lot stronger, so we were gone put them to the test. Our ability to make them turnover it over then capitalize on their turnovers is what won the game.”
