C. Milton Wright shows resilience, topples host Lake Clifton 57-53
It was only a nonconference road win for C. Milton Wright boys basketball on Thursday, but the No. 14 Mustangs believed the extra excitement at game’s end — stirring playoff-like jubilation — was plenty warranted.
Traveling to perennial Baltimore City and state power Lake Clifton, they matched the No. 9 Lakers’ long-proven grind. The Mustangs forged ahead with a late third-quarter push and answered every surge from the home team in the fourth quarter to claim a confidence-boosting 57-53 win.
Tough defense, strong rebounding and balanced scoring proved the right mix as C. Milton Wright improved to 6-0 on the season.
“The message today was stay together and compete,” Mustangs coach Mario Scott said. “We live by the four C’s — communicate, connect, compete and most importantly consistency. We drill that in practice, we do situational work to hopefully prepare for times like this. You never quite know what it’s going to look like when the lights really come on and I couldn’t be prouder of the guys and how they responded.”
In a tightly contested game with no significant runs by either team, the Mustangs enjoyed a spurt deep into the third quarter.
Jordan Ross found Dylan Sander with a long outlet pass that produced an easy basket for a 34-31 lead with 1:59 left in the quarter. Kyle Ashman won a fight for a rebound underneath, got it up and in and was fouled for a three-point play that made it 37-31. And then Ashman made an extra inside pass to Sander for another score that put the Mustangs up 39-31 going into the fourth quarter.
The Lakers would get close midway through the fourth quarter — twice cutting the lead to two — but Mustangs senior Larry Thompson had a vital minute-plus stretch of offense. On three straight possessions, he made nothing-but-net jumpers — the last coming with 3:26 to play for a 47-43 advantage.
In the final 2:45, the Mustangs made 8 of 9 free throws and got a basket from Sander to spoil the Lakers’ comeback plan. Ashman and Cayne Woodland each scored 11 points, Sander had 10 and Thompson scored eight of his nine points in the second half for the winners.
“I wasn’t doing well in the first half and had to come out with more energy and play with my team and all that, get the buckets for my team and work hard for them,” Thompson said. “This is very big for us — I love it. Love the energy.”
C. Milton Wright will close out the 2023 portion of its schedule at Great Mills next Thursday. Sander said the poised road performance will go a long way this season.
“We knew going to practice yesterday we had a big game and we had to put all the effort we had into it before going into the holiday break,” he said. “So it was 100% effort. Everybody was part of it. It gives us a lot of confidence.”
The Lakers, who fell to 4-3, got a game-high 17 points from Jazae Jones, including seven in the fourth quarter, while Jalyn Kennedy added 12 and Jermel Miles finished with 10.
“My hats off to them — they came here prepared to play,” Lake Clifton coach Herman “Tree” Harried said of the Mustangs. “The atmosphere didn’t bother them any and they outplayed us at both ends — offensively and defensively. They took it to us today in front of our home crowd.”
Other boys basketball scores:
Loch Raven 51, Towson 48: In a game that featured several runs by both teams, Loch Raven outscored Towson 5-2 in the final 130 seconds to secure a victory in the second game of the Battle of the Beltway.
The run started with a miraculous tip-in by Tyler Brandon with 2:10 left that surprised the crowd, but not Brandon.
The basket gave the Raiders (5-1) a 48-46 lead and a layup by Earl Jordan and free throw by Kaden Lewis with 16.9 seconds left provided the final points.
Liberty 57, Glenelg 41
Mt. Hebron 69, Westminster 57 South River 62, Eleanor Roosevelt 53 River Hill 92, Winters Mill 60
Girls basketball
Reservoir 47, Atholton 25: Leading Atholton by four at the break, Reservoir coach Deb Taylor’s message to her team was simple: rebound.
The Gators were missing one of their top rebounders, Paige Malwitz, because of injury and struggled battling against the Raiders’ size on the glass. The second half, however, was vastly different, as Reservoir took control of the boards.
The Gators also employed a stifling zone defense with intense ball pressure that disrupted Atholton’s offensive rhythm, allowing just five second-half points. Meanwhile, Alissa Young and Jasmin Shelton guided the second-half offense in the win.
Suffocating defense has played an integral part in the Gators’ 5-1 start to the season, holding opponents to less than 30 points in four of six games.
Loch Raven 50, Towson 30: If the Loch Raven girls are going to make it deep in the postseason, they are going to follow the lead of the backcourt trio of seniors Destaney Harris, Maya Gordon and Meone Boykin. That’s exactly what they did in a victory over Towson in the first game of the Battle of the Beltway at Goucher College on Thursday night.
Harris and Boykin led the Raiders with 13 points each and Gordon added 12.
Hereford 44, Francis Scott Key 41: Hereford coach Dave Schreiner knows how much his team needs to be tested in order to be ready for the playoffs. Sometimes, the best tests come from outside the traditional group of county rivals.
Schreiner was one of many ready to see his team compete against one of the area’s best as they hosted defending Carroll County champion Francis Scott Key on Thursday.
What Schreiner saw was something he already knew: Lauren Kraft is really good.
Kraft led the way with a game-high 20 points and knocked down key shots as the Bulls outlasted the Eagles.
Westminster53,Mt.Hebron46: Westminster coach David Urban lost his voice at halftime of his team’s game Thursday against Mt. Hebron.
After fighting back from down 14 against Liberty less than a week ago, the Owls again found themselves down early in a game. But once again, Westminster responded in the second half by coming out strong and it led to a 53-46 win.
The Owls (3-1) were in a 12-6 hole at the end of the first quarter but fought back with nine straight points to jump ahead by three in the second quarter’s opening minutes. The Owls did not hit a 2-point shot until midway through the second quarter. Aracely Adames came out strong with a pair of 3-pointers in the first quarter to keep Westminster within striking distance.
Kaylen Battle, who was sick the past few days, came off the bench and also contributed a pair of 3-pointers in the first half, a stretch when Mt. Hebron’s impenetrable zone defense kept the Owls outside of the paint. Battle finished the game with 13 points, hitting all three of her 3-point tries as well as going 4-for-4 from the free throw line.
C. Milton Wright 36, Joppatowne 24 Mount de Sales 53, Centennial 27 Patterson Mill 39, Havre de Grace 37 Liberty 45, Glenelg 32