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Lions unravel rival Cardinals in final quarter
BY Matt Welch, mwelch@acnpapers.com
A third-quarter tie appeared to be the smelling salts needed to revive the Prestonwood Christian Academy boys basketball team Tuesday against John Paul II.
After a nip-and-tuck two-and-a-half quarters, the final 10 minutes of the contest belonged to the Lions, who picked up a 54-42 win over the rival Cardinals.
"We got a couple turnovers and a couple run-outs," said Chris Mayberry, Prestonwood head coach. "We knew exactly what they were going to do as far as holding the ball to create minute possessions and then shoot a three. They made a lot of threes tonight and we could have done a better job defensively, but credit their spread offense."
The shot was inches from being a 3-pointer, which not only sent the John Paul faithful into a frenzy but proceeded to ignite a 9-3 Prestonwood run to close the quarter.
Senior Claude Person countered Bassett's make with a 3-pointer from the corner, which was promptly followed by a pair of makes from junior Julius Randle -- the first being an and-1 and the second a dunk following a steal. Freshman Mickey Mitchell capped the quarter spinning off the elbow for a finger roll in the quarter's closing seconds for a 39-32 Lions lead.
The Cardinals managed to cut the gap down to 41-35 following a 3-pointer by senior Alex Cunningham with 6:30 left.
Prestonwood countered with a pair of unanswered buckets, chiefly a Mitchell layup for the team's first double-digit lead of the game at 45-35 with five minutes remaining.
A Bassett 3-pointer gave the Cardinals one last ray of hope at 47-40 with two minutes left, but a layup by Lions senior Zach Peters followed by a Randle layup put the contest out of the reach. Randle totaled 21 points, five rebounds, six assists and five steals in the win.
"I think we weren't finishing like we had been on the offensive end," said Chad Evans, John Paul head coach. "We made some crucial turnovers when we'd try and run our ball screen and when you make a mistake, they can answer so fast."
The answers weren't there for Prestonwood early as John Paul lured the Lions into its ball control style of play with positive results.
"We did it exactly the way we knew we needed to," Evans said. "I've always thought that your deal with [Prestonwood] is to stop the high-low and don't let them get out in transition. But when you're on offense, it's tough because you have to make those jump shots because your chances of getting a second or third look are slim."
Claiming its only lead on a 3-pointer by junior Jason Martin for John Paul's first bucket of the game, the Cardinals made just four field goals in the first half and trailed, 22-16, at the break.
Three of those makes came from Martin, who knocked down all 12 of his points from behind the arc with nine coming in the first half.
Complemented by 10 points from senior Jae Ricketts and nine points from Cunningham, Martin and the Cardinals knocked down eight 3-pointers, while subsequently keeping Prestonwood out of the open court and at its most dangerous.
"On a couple of our opportunities to run, we didn't do a good job of getting in transition and kind of settled," Mayberry said. "When they make us chase around for a minute and you have the ball, you need to value it a bit more."
Foul trouble to Peters also dampened the Lions' rhythm in the first half, with the post rebounding over the final two quarters for nine points while senior Austin Rettig added seven and Mitchell dropped six to go along with four steals.
The Lions resume play Friday at 8 p.m. with a home game against Trinity Christian Academy while John Paul looks to right the ship at Bishop Dunne.
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