Lindside – James Monroe’s student section dressed for a beach theme Friday.
Unfortunately for the hosts and their fans they couldn’t steady the rough waters.
The No. 4-ranked Mavericks made just four two-point field goals through the first fifteen minutes of the second half, falling to No. 2 Wyoming East 58-50 Friday in Lindside.
After scoring just six points in the final 11 minutes of their previous meeting in New Richmond, the Mavericks again struggled late on offense. All-stater Kadyn Hines fouled out with four minutes to play and through the first seven minutes of the final quarter they netted just five points, falling into a 66-52 hole with just over a minute to play.
It was an unraveling after the Mavs trailed just 48-46 after three quarters on Friday.
“I’d have to go back and watch the film to try and understand it a little more,” James Monroe head coach Kelly Mann said of the fourth quarter struggles against East this season. “I’m not sure what the factors are that’s causing the fourth quarter to get away from us. Some of it is making and missing shots. I think we missed four – Bryce Gardinier really was getting to the rim well.
“He missed four bunnies and was very frustrated with it. He told me, ‘If I make my layups this is a really close game,’ and I said, ‘Absolutely, just keep doing what you’re doing. You can’t control that.’ He’ll make those most nights. Maybe the film will be like ‘Aha!’ but I don’t know that it is. Sometimes you just rush a little bit. They started hitting shots and we took a couple bad ones and probably fatigued.”
The Warriors capitalized on those misses as well as their own, winning the rebounding battle 45-29 with 22 of those boards coming on the offensive end. It was a stark contrast from James Monroe’s Tuesday win over Bluefield where the Mavs won the boards 43-17.
“It’s a point of emphasis – rebounding,” East head coach Kent McBride said. “I thought in the first half down (in New Richmond) we showed some clips where we weren’t ready to match that physicality on the glass and specifically what’s very hard for Keegan (Davidson) and Talan (Muscari) as guards, you’re not used to guys crashing, you’re used to guys getting back in transition and they don’t do that.
“I didn’t think we started the game very well in that manner and it was a collective thing but it was clearly a point of emphasis. The statistics say if you win the rebounding battle you win 77 percent of games.”
The rebounding advantage helped lessen the blow of a tough shooting night that saw the Warriors fire at a 40 percent clip (23-for-58), mostly misfiring from beyond the arc (6-for-25).
Steadying the tides in separate halves were Keegan Davidson and Broc Johnson, the former scoring 12 in the first half and the latter scoring 12 in the second half. They combined for 40 points.
“Broc Johnson is just one of the best pure scorers in the state,” Davidson said. “I mean we all know that and I think I’m a hard matchup one-on-one against anybody. I’ll take my money against anyone in that situation but they do a. good job of not allowing you to get the one-on-one situation. But I saw shots not going early and was able to get my eyes on the rim and Kadyn Hines was jumping his but I had to get around him somehow.”
“In the first half – they’re a really good basketball team and get you fatigued and it’s tough to make shot,” Johnson said. “We didn’t shoot it very well. At halftime coach told us to just settle down and take care of the ball and we found the open guy and got some good shots.”
Despite missing starting forward Lane Taylor (illness) the Mavs scorched early, jumping out to a 7-1 lead but watched as a Braxton Morgan 3 and Konnor Fox three-point play tied the game at 9-9. East’s run topped at 17-4, resulting in an 18-11 lead following a Johnson 3.
Wyatt Mann’s 3-pointer brought the hosts to within one at 20-19 at the end of the first quarter, segueing into a second frame that saw three lead changes and a pair of ties. A Hines three-point play with 1.5 seconds left put James Monroe ahead 33-30 at the intermission.
The momentum carried into the third quarter with the Mavs going ahead 43-36 following another Hines bucket but another East run made the up the difference.
Davidson got it started with a bucket and pair of free throws, kicking to Johnson who hit a 3. Morgan followed with a layup off a dump off from Braedy Johnston before hitting a 3 to cap a 12-2 spurt at the end of the third quarter.
Then the lid popped on the basket.
The Mavs shot just 4-for-17 (24 percent) from the field in the fourth quarter and just 8-of-29 (28 percent) from the field in the second half entirely.
“You look at both games, the game down at Wyoming East I think we kept them 2-for-16 or 17 to end the game and you start the second half there, I think that’s a real testament to our kids and the fact they don’t panic,” McBride said. “They rely on the fact we’re going to put a lot of effort into guarding you and making you take tough shots. I was sitting there beside (James Monroe assistant Principal) Todd Lusk, a Concord guy and they miss a layup and you can see those things aren’t falling for them tonight.
“Sometimes it’s they’re not falling and sometimes it’s you’re having to take it over them. At the end of the day Broc Johnson is 6-foot-5 with the wingspan and you’ve got Konnor Fox at 6-foot-9. We did a good job of making sure they didn’t get clean ones and it affects your shots.”
A 17-6 run to open the final frame effectively ended the game.
Aside from earning another signature win in a top five matchup, the victory likely locked the Warriors into the No. 1 seed for the regional tournament with the voting looming next week.
“I think we are (positioned to be the No. 1 seed),” McBride said. “That was our goal to start the year. We didn’t set out a goal to win a state championship. We set out to be the 1 seed because we knew the strength of this region. We felt if we’re the 1 seed in this region we’re positioned moving forward. The vote’s Tuesday and it comes out Wednesday.”
Johnson, who grabbed 10 rebounds as well, led East and all scorers with 21 points while Davidson netted 19. Morgan finished with 10 points and 12 rebounds.
Ryan Mann led James Monroe with 19 points and nine rebounds while Hines netted 16.
Wyoming East
Keegan Davidson 19, Talan Muscari 8, Broc Johnson 21, Braxton Morgan 10, Konnor Fox 10.
James Monroe
Clark Adkins 3, Kadyn Hines 16, Jayden Miller 7, Bryer Surface 2, Bryce Gardinier 2, Wyatt Mann 11, Ryan Mann 19
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