McBee edges Lewisville in top-10 1A matchup
McBee and Lewisville’s boys’ basketball teams lived up to what a top-10 matchup should be Tuesday night.
The No. 6 Panthers held off No. 4 Lewisville’s late charge for a 58-55 win in Richburg that keeps Pat Cook’s team undefeated in Region 3-A. It was an off shooting night for both sides, but McBee (10-5, 4-0 Region 3-A) and Lewisville both showed the grit, hustle and frenzy that should make them problematic in the 1A state playoffs next month.
Lewisville (9-6, 3-1) couldn’t overcome a deficit that hovered around 10 points for much of the game. The host Lions did make a late run but McBee staved off Michael McCray’s team with late foul shots.
“We finally stepped it up on the defensive end and broke the ice,” said McCray. “We actually went up one, but a few calls didn’t go our way, few blown assignments on defense. Got to give McBee credit; they’re a very scrappy team and they played us tough the entire night.”
Lewisville trailed by four at halftime, but struggled in the third quarter during which McBee built a 10-point lead. Shane Hammonds’ 3 inside the last minute made it 44-33 in the Panthers’ favor headed to the fourth.
Turning point
The fourth quarter saw Lewisville make its last push, and McBee its last stand. The Lions opened the quarter with a 10-2 run that cut the Panthers’ lead to 46-44. Cook called timeout, telling his team, “Okay, we lost our composure.” Lewisville took the lead on Marcus McCullough’s coast-to-coast layup with about 4 minutes left.
But the Panthers jumped right back in front and held on. Lewisville had the ball late trailing by two, but the Lions missed a layup then traveled on the putback, allowing the Panthers to escape Richburg with a victory.
Critical
Cook said his team is shooting around 53 percent from the free throw line this season, but the Panthers hit 20-of-25 Tuesday night.
“We’re terrible foul shooters,” he said, laughing. “I’ve got a whole team of Shaquille O’Neals.”
Free throw accuracy was crucial because it helped the visitors weather a couple of barren stretches from the field. Lewisville missed nine from the charity stripe, painful in a three-point loss.
“They shot the lights out of it,” said McCray. “On the other end, we didn’t shoot so well. That was the difference in the game.”
Star contributions
Lewisville’s Hill got going in the second half, scoring 10 of his game-high 16. Keels was a beast on the boards and added 11 points. McBee’s scoring was a balanced affair, led by Trevon Reed’s 11. Panthers guard Shane Hammonds looked like the best player on the court at times, but he didn’t shoot the ball very well and fouled out late in the game with nine points.
Overheard
“We shot the ball terrible from the field, left a couple of layups out there... it was one of those nights,” said McCray, smiling. “You give your team at least two of those a year; we had one of those games at Andrew Jackson and this was the same. This shouldn’t happen again.”
On deck
Lewisville travels to Camden Military Wednesday night for the two teams’ second meeting this season. The Lions won the first meeting by 30 points. McBee takes on region foe Governor’s School of Math and Science on Friday.
Box score
McBee 58, Lewisville 55
McBee;13;12;19;14- 58
Lewisville;8;13;13;21- 55
McBee: Gary Black 4, Trevon Reed 11, Quadarius Black 7, Shane Hammonds 9, Marquis Wright 5, Alex Miller 9, Chandler Linton 9, Daveon Holloman 4. Lewisville: Jadakiss Talford 2, Marcus McCullough 6, Trey Keels 11, Mikhail Fourney 3, Mike Hill 16, D’Metrius Edwards 7, Quentin Sanders 4, Josh Belk 4.
Team fouls: McBee 18; Lewisville 18
Foul-shooting: McBee 20-25; Lewisville 15-24
3-pointers: McBee 5 (Miller 3, Hammonds 1, Reed 1); Lewisville 2 (Hill 2)
Records: McBee 10-5, 4-0 Region 3-4A; Lewisville 9-6, 3-1
This story was originally published January 26, 2016 at 11:49 PM with the headline "McBee edges Lewisville in top-10 1A matchup."