;62-45 tournament victory over East Forsyth boosts Parkland's confidence
BY SAM DAVIS
?THE CHRONICLE
?
* With only one win and two
losses to show for its participation
in the Lash/Chronicle Tourna
Iment, Parkland's junior varsity
?eam could have its head hung
down.
?; But instead, the Mustangs are
Stimistic about their chances in
t Piedmont Triad 3-A season.
?The Mustangs dropped their open
ing round game to Reynolds, then
dropped another loss to Mount
Tabor. However, both games were
close and the Mustangs concluded
"?their play in the tournament with a
'decisive victory over East Forsyth.
Coach Dwain Aikens said his team
ftnally began to work together dur
ing that game and understands
2?vhat he's been trying to instill in
4hem about teamwork.
' Jeff Middleton scored 22
points, Brian Lloyd added 10 and
?
t
Jeremy Ray added eight as the
Mustangs took a 62-45 win over
the Eagles.
"I was very pleased that we got
a win," Aikens said. "I thought we
played a pretty good tournament
based on where we were coming
from at the start of the tourna
ment. We started off fresh and I
think the guys understand my con
cept now and what we're trying to
do."
Although the team is com
posed of players with outstanding
athletic talent, Aikens said the
Mustangs didn't mesh as a unit
until their battle with East.
"That was the key," Aikens
said. "All season long he wad been
playing in spurts. We have some
guys who are very talented, but
when they play with other players
it doesn't show. Sometimes a kid
with a lot of talent can do you
more harm than good if he's not
working with his teammates. I
I I^BS
I i / Bruce Chapman
Parkland hi xxmnfi in it*
lot* to Mov ?r. 7ha Mus
tangs conch urnatmont
play \*ith a t y avar ia*t
Forsyth
think we finally found the combi
nations that I think will work - I
especially against East. We started '
a different five every game. Now I
think I have the guys who I think
will do a lot of playing."
For one thing Aikens said he's i
found the player who will play in I
the post in Middleton. The M us- i
tangs had moved Middleton
around at the small forward and i
power forward. But he did the
most damage while in the middle.
"That's his natural position," I
Aikens said. "He really doesn't I
have the height, but when we put I
him there he responded; he was
our leading scorer throughout the
tournament."
Middleton scored 17,16 and 22
points, respectively in the tourna
ment, and was among the tourna
ment's leading scorers.
"He gradually increased his
output throughout the tourna
ment," Aikens said.
Several other players also came
through. One was Brian Lloyd,
who earned his first start against
Bast.
"Brian Lloyd hadn't started all
year, but 1 felt like it was time for
him to start because of the way he
had been hustling and playing. He
responded.'
Lloyd was one of three fresh
men in the starting lineup, joining
Monte Purvis and Maurice Baxter.
"There were a lot of things they
had to learn about high school
basketball," Aikens said. "They
had to understand what a struc
tured break is as opposed to just
running up and down the floor.
You have a certain place you're
supposed to go."
All in all. Aikens said the Mus
tangs, who begin conference play
on Jan. 4 against Greensboro
Smith, gained a lot of confidence.
"The kids came out of the
tournament realizing they're play
ing better. You can go into a tour
nament and lose two games and it
can hurt your morale. But that
wasn't our case. They realize they
are playing very well I like the
morale of this team."
?
?
?
Yellow Jackets
Jwm page B1
?Jame level.
!* "Other than P.J. Jenkins, the team really
[Isn't playing up to its potential," Scales said. "I
;!eally thought we would be playing better than
lye are right now."
[? In their opening win against East, Jenkins'
[Inside play made the difference for Carver.
?Jenkins dominated the backboards on both
lends and was surprisingly effective with his
[scoring. That allowed the Yellowjackets to
break open a close game down the stretch.
I "Really, I thought that was the best half
[that we played in the tournament," Scales said.
;"I thought we would get better and start gain
? ing momentum. But it looked like we regressed
[from there."
The Yellowjackets got good play in spurts
from Kedrick Martin, T.J. Walker and Koryell
Williams. Williams did some damage in all
[three games in the tournament. However, his
[effort lacked the consistency that the Yellow
jackets needed. Walker keyed Carver's second
half effort against East Forsyth with his leader
ship at point guard. With him running the
show, the Yellowjackets' offense began to show
continuity.
. ? Martin's outside shooting kept the Yellow
jackets close against North Forsyth and helped
ihem cut a big lead in the second half against
Glenn. But in both instances it was a case of
too little too late.
' I "We're going back to basics," Scales said.
?
-r
"We have to work on the fundamentals. We
had a lot of situations where we didn't do the
little things. That's all I'm going to emphasize
during the rest of the break. When we come
back to school after the holidays I think we'll
be a much better team. We'll just put this
Photo by Bruce Chapman
P.J. Jenkins gets two points in close.
Photo by Bruce Chapman
Antonio Byrd scored 20 points in his foam's
loss to Olonn.
I
Eagles grounded in Lash/Chronicle by turnovers, inconsistent play
UY SAM DAVIS
tHE CHRONICLE
It's starting to sound like a
broken record for East Forsyth,
j^fter three games of participation
in the Lash/Chronicle Tourna
ment, the Eagles came away with
ho wins.
; The Eagles started out well,
pushing Carver to the limit in
their opening-round game. How
ever, the Eagles had trouble in the
second half and lost to the Yel
lowjackets. From there, the Eagles
had trouble taking flight again.
"We came out in the first half
of that game and we were pumped
up and focused," said coach Mike
McCulloch. "We were up by one
at halftime and probably played as
well as we can. In the fourth quar
ter we started to unravel a little."
That's when McCulloch said
the Yellowjackets' ability began to
take over.
"They were a little bigger and
a little stronger," McCulloch said.
"We played hard, but they wore us
down."
That game didn't leave as
much in his craw as the next two
games, when the Eagles lost to
West Forsyth and Parkland.
"1 was very disappointed in the
second and third games," McCul
loch said. "In the final game (a 62
45 loss), we played well in first and
second quarter. But then we sort
of unraveled again. We started out
well and kind of went downhill
from there."
The good thing, according to
McCulloch, is the fact that the
Eagles went up against outstand
ing talent and that should help
East in the Metro 4-A conference
season.
"We played against good com
petition every night," he said. "It
should make us better."
The Eagles will take a winless
record into 2000.
"After the third game in the
tournament I just said, 'Guys, we
need to change our focus',"
McCulloch said. "I told them that
we're not having fun. The energy
is there, but not the focus and pur
pose.
"When we come back in the
new year, we need to come back
with focus to go with the energy,"
he added. "Good things are going
to happen."
McCulloch was able to point
to some positives.
"T.C. Witherspoon played
well," he said. "And Tyler Thomas
did some good things. By the third
game both of them started for the
first time and were productive."
And there were lots of things
the Eagles need to work on as they
gear up for conference play.
"Our guards had lots of trou
ble getting the ball up the court,"
McCulloch said. "They did well
when we did get the ball past half
court.
"We need to reduce our
turnovers. We have to work on
protecting the ball, being strong
and making good passes. We real
ly shot ourselves in the foot by
making bad turnovers. Hopefully
can do some ball-handling drills
in practice to overcome the
turnover problems."
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