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Lost in Transition: Lions' first-half flurry downs John Paul
BY Matt Welch, mwelch@acnpapers.com
After a quarter-and-a-half of taming the Prestonwood Christian Academy boys basketball team on the glass and at the rim, John Paul II let the Lions get loose.
And once Prestonwood got running in the open court, the Cardinals were reduced to mere bystanders in an eventual 55-39 Lions victory Friday night in each team's respective TAPPS 1-5A opener.
"[John Paul] had a good crowd and they ran good stuff," said Chris Mayberry, Prestonwood head coach. "Coming out early, we struggled a little bit bouncing back from last night (a 79-64 loss to Arlington Grace Prep).
The Cardinals hung tight early, leading for the bulk of the opening quarter and even when trailing, only faced a two-possession deficit for the first half of the second frame. But in trailing, 17-13, with 3:30 left in the half following an off-balance layup by junior Chandler Malone, it would be the last time John Paul tickled the twine until the third quarter.
The same couldn't be said for the Lions, who closed out the half on a 12-0 run to carry a 29-13 lead into the break.
Prestonwood forced the Cardinals into a bevy of low-percentage shots and upon securing the rebound, rode its patented transition game to the eventual victory.
Senior Zach Peters got the rally started mere seconds after Malone's basket, heaving an inbounds pass down-court to sprinting junior Julius Randle, who promptly threw down a dunk for a 19-13 lead. Peters converted an and-1 on the Lions' ensuing possession, with junior Marquan Botley capping the flurry with a layup at the buzzer following a Randle steal.
The Cardinals never recovered.
"We're in so much better shape this year," Randle said. "We've been through a lot of practices and conditioning, pushing a lot. When we get it, we just try to get out and go."
Prestonwood outscored John Paul, 19-4, in the second quarter in what marked the difference in a contest that saw the Cardinals outscored, 36-35, in the three other quarters.
John Paul failed to trim the Lions' lead down to single digits after initially setting the tempo with a ball control-centric approach early. Patiently working the ball around the perimeter, the Cardinals were in no rush to give Prestonwood control. Unfortunately, five first-quarter John Paul turnovers assured the Lions had ample cracks at offense early on.
"They just wanted to stall, so we had to get out there and pressure them," Randle said. "We just wanted to get out on the break and usually some teams will attack us, but we just had to get up on them to force turnovers."
Harassing Randle and Peters in the paint, John Paul controlled the glass, 9-3, in the first quarter. In fact, it was an offensive rebound, 3-pointer combo from junior Jason Martin that gave the Cardinals a 7-2 lead with three minutes left in the first.
Prestonwood responded with an 8-2 run to close out the frame, capped by a dish from freshman Mickey Mitchell to senior Claude Person that give the Lions a 10-9 lead.
The Lions would nearly quadruple their first-quarter output over the ensuing two quarters. Prestonwood carried the momentum into a third stanza where Randle dropped nine of his game-high 25 points -- perhaps none more imposing than a one-handed alley-oop thrown down following a pass from Peters for a 41-22 lead with 2:25 remaining.
Peters added 10 points and nine rebounds, with nine points chipped in by Botley.
In response, the Cardinals were forced into a flurry of looks from beyond the arc, converting six 3-pointers on the evening. Martin and senior Jae Ricketts supplied the bulk of that ammunition, totaling 10 and 12 points, respectively. John Paul's 3-point prowess actually reduced Prestonwood's lead by the end of the third quarter to 43-29. A swarm of aggressive Cardinals' double teams followed to try and force the Lions into miscues, but it wasn't to be.
The Lions finished the job from the charity stripe, knocking down 6-of-10 free throws over the final eight minutes.
Neither team will return to district play until Jan. 3, but in between that timeframe John Paul will next see action Dec. 27-29 in the Prosper Holiday Tournament. The Lions will travel a bit further, competing until Wednesday in the City of Palms Classic in Fort Myers, Fla.
"I think it gets a lot of the distractions out of the way and gives us a chance to get closer as a team," Mayberry said. "Having played Grace Prep already, there are going to be teams like that at this tournament, so it's going to be a great environment for us to get better."
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