Rams continue run, hold off Bearcats
Lakeside sophomore sharp-shooter Tyler Frederick put up 24 points to help lead the Rams past Mena 69-55 Tuesday night at Lakeside Athletic Complex.
Leading 41-27 at the break, the Rams ( 6-1) got going in the second half as senior Tyree Glover grabbed a steal and passed ahead to junior Jamison Craig for the bucket.
The Bearcats (0-3) answered with junior Caleb Peters finding 6-5 sophomore Trey Day for a bucket in transition to pull within 11 with 2:50 remaining in the third. Frederick continued his deadly shooting performance, nailing a pull-up jumper for a 50-37 lead heading to the final period.
Junior Ashton Powell started to take over for Mena in the fourth quarter, hitting a 10- foot jumper. Sophomore Mason Dillard then hit a 3-pointer from downtown to cut the deficit to eight. Sophomore Trevin Plunkett banked in a trey to cut the spread to five with 6:24 to go, prompting the Rams to call timeout.
After the pause, Lakeside began to find inside man Wylyn Harris, who converted a 3-point play soon after play resumed.
Mena shot back with Peters hitting in transition before Day was fouled on a 3-point attempt, sinking all three free throws to cut the lead to 53-50 with 5:08 remaining.
Harris kept the Rams on top with a putback and a steal, passing ahead to Glover for an eight-point lead with four minutes remaining.
Powell tried to lead a Bearcats comeback with a smooth spin move and basket in the paint, but Frederick found his rhythm again, capping the game with two free throws.
“I didn’t feel like we played as good as we’ve been playing, but Mena just out-hustled us a little bit tonight,” said Lakeside head coach Eddie Lamb. “They got a lot of 50-50 balls, but I was real proud how we finished. … I was proud of how we did. Like, you could have wilted a little bit there and got nervous, and they didn’t. We hit our free throws; Tyler hit his free throws down the stretch that were big, and then Tyree Glover had a couple of big baskets there late. And Wylyn (Harris) had some putbacks. So overall, very proud of that.
“You know, hey, we’re 6-1, and I can remember a time we were 1-6 at this time. So we’re building it the right way, and I’m very excited for our team, but hey, a lot of credit to Mena tonight. They played really hard. They really did.”
Mena got early momentum to take a 7-3 lead just two minutes into the quarter, but Frederick and Harris led the Rams back into it with several shots. Lakeside junior Taevon Johnson nailed a deep trey near the end of the quarter to knot the score at 11 before a steal and pass to Glover to take a 17-13 lead into the second.
Glover hit a 3-pointer to keep the Rams’ momentum rolling with baskets from Harris inside the paint. Following a trey by Harris and a steal and layup by senior Seth Poindexter, the Rams stretched to a comfortable 30-19 lead.
Frederick nailed a 3-pointer from the left baseline to end the half.
“I’m actually super, super proud because we’ve come from a long way,” said Mena head coach Randy Peters after the
game. “We’ve got a lot of young guys and two seniors on the whole team, and only one of those got to play very much last year, so we’re really young. Got a
lot of guys in from football. They’re all buying in; they’re good kids, so I’m proud. (Lakeside) is a good program — a good program to compete with, … so I’m super proud.”
Frederick had three rebounds and two steals along with his game-high 24 points, followed by Harris with 16 points and seven rebounds. Glover added 12 points, three rebounds and two steals while Johnson had 5 points, four assists and two rebounds.
Day led Mena with 13 points, three rebounds and two blocks, while Powell finished with 11 points, five rebounds and three blocks. Plunkett added 10 points in the loss with one assist and one rebound.
Lakeside travels to Greenbrier next Tuesday while Mena hosts Fountain Lake Friday at 6:30 p.m.