SMSA hangs on, beats Ellington to stay unbeaten

ELLINGTON — The SMSA boys basketball team was struggling in the third quarter against Ellington Tuesday night.

The undefeated Tigers had led by 10 at halftime and appeared to be cruising to a win at the start of the third quarter. But Ellington fought back and took the lead with 2:50 left in the third.

The game was close but in the end the Tigers prevailed to win their 10th straight, 66-60 in an NCCC game.

Junior Daniel Hernandez led SMSA with 18 points, including eight in the fourth quarter when the Tigers pulled away. King Shaw added 15 points for SMSA and Abijah Miller and Kemani Thompson had 13 each. Junior Cody Murphy led Ellington (7-4) with 27 points, including 13 in the third quarter.

“Ellington is always wellcoached, well-prepared,” SMSA coach Erik Mckay said. “It’s tough to play in their place, it’s a tough environment. Those kids played a great second half.

“We could have made some better decisions and executed a little better, especially in the second half.”

SMSA led 34-24 at halftime and Kemani Thompson drove to the basket to start the third quarter to put the Tigers up by 12 points. But that’s when Ellington came alive. Murphy hit a long jumper, which began a 15-2 Purple Knight run. Murphy’s 3-pointer with 2:50 left in the third gave the Knights their first lead of the game, 39-38.

“We dug ourselves a little bit of a hole in the first half, which I think takes a toll on us,” Ellington coach Bob Freitas said. “The first half, we missed some open shots.

“That’s a real good team. We competed. We played well. That’s all I can ask.”

SMSA rallied, ending the quarter with a 47-43 lead. In the fourth, Hernandez converted two fast break layups and the Tigers were in control again. nizayi ah bog ar’ s 3- pointer with 3 minutes togo put SMSA up 62-52.

“In the fourth quarter, we just started getting back to our basics, what it is we wanted to do, executing the game plan, looking to share the basketball, spread it a little bit, spread the floor,” Mckay said. “We had some great plays with and-ones, got some loose balls, got out in the fast break and got some easy layups, easy finishes, easy looks. Daniel hit some shots. Naziayah had that huge 3 on the wing in the fourth quarter.

“Just carrying some of that momentum — it was negative in the third quarter a little bit, we were struggling, to be able to turn it around going into the fourth quarter was critical for us.”