Photos by Craig T. Greenlee
Amari Quick of Atkins soars to the basket for a
score.
Consistency
fram page EI
trigger at point guard and be gets ample assistance from
partner Trey Baker. Thomas Hudson provides added
depth.
"Guard play has been our strength and at the same
time, it's been our weakness, too," said Phillis. "There are
times when we execute our offense with sharp cuts to the
basket and crisp passes and we get high-percentage shots.
But on the next possession, we'll make bad passes, which
result in turnovers. We have to be strong with the ball and
make good decisions."
Although Atkins doesn't have much inside size, there's
more than enough firepower on the roster, especially from
the 3-point range. Eleven of the 12 players on the varsity
roster have proven themselves as capable outside shoot
ers.
Atkins picked up its first conference victory of the sea
son in a 62-26 beat-down of Walkertown last Friday. The
Camels turned the game into a rout in the first quarter and
built what proved to be an insurmountable 29-3 lead at the
half. Haggler led all scorers with 19 points. Saeed
Muhammad and Baker contributed 11 points apiece.
"I'm happy to get the win," sqid Phil lis. "Our guys
need the confidence boost as we go deeper into conference
play."
Phillis understands that his team has to show immedi
ate improvement in two key areas in order to make its
presence felt in the conference. The ability to effectively
rebound, while reducing turnovers, he explained, will go a
long way in helping the Camels contend.
"Rebounds and turnovers, those are the key items for
us," he said. "It's mandatory that we box-out and do a
good job of getting on the boards. We've got to be more
physical down low and minimize our turnovers."
Atkins forward Reese Sicut looks to pass to a
teammate.
?f;
?w? Ffaoao by Cnig T. Greenlee
Parkland's Chris Brown
drives the baseline against
Reagan's Tyler Carmer (34)
as Tanner Nelson (50) closes
in.
Victory
from page BI
in spite of minimal production from Ryan
Ayers, who led the team in scoring over
the past three weeks. Ayers, who averaged
17 points a game during that span, was
held to one point for the game.
"I could tell right away that they bad
scouted us," said Noe. "They ran a box
and-one on Ryan in the first half and for
most of the third quarter. By doing so,
they took him out of the game. With that
being the case, everybody had to step up
and they did. Knowing that 12 of the 13
players on our roster scored is pretty
cool."
Although the Mustangs struggled,
they managed to stay in contention for
most of the first half. Micah Williams hit
a jumper to pull Parkland to within six
points of the lead (22-16) with four min
utes left in the second quarter. But from
that point on, Reagan gradually pulled^,
away"to build a comfortable cushion.
The one plus for Parkland was
Damien Thackefs defense on Ayers. With
Thacker shadowing Ayers on every pos
session, it took away from what he nor
mally contributes at the offensive end.
Thacker, an on-taiget outside shooter, fin
ished with eight points.
It also didn't help the cause that
Daniel Leal, the Mustangs otherscoring
threat, played limited minutes. This was
Leal's first game back after being-side
lined for three weeks with a back injury.
Micah Williams and Leal scored 10
V. *
points apiece to lead Parkland.
"We just couldn't get our rhythm
going," said coach James Williams, of
Parkland. "For some reason, we couldn't
finish opportunities on offense. And on
defense, we gave up a lot of easy baskets.
"Reagan's leading scorer only had one
point, so that just goes to show that we
weren't ready to play defense on the other
four guys. We definitely weren't at our
best, but there will be other days to play.
Once we get our normal rotation back, I
think we'll be fine."
Bobcats ? ...
from page BP ? ~~7~~
f* - ??J?"' . < ?
28 at intermission.
To its credit, Glenn refused to buckle
under pressure. Paul Carlton, Elijah
Scales, Miguel Morton and Bryson Bell
St. John took turns providing offense to
keep the Bobcats in contention.
Over the final minutes of the third
quarter, Glenn closed the gap for four
points on a put-back by Christian Herbin
(40-36) and again on Bell-St. John's 3
pointer (47-43 with 1:02 remaining). But
every time Glenn would make a push, the
Mavericks held steady and closed the
quarter with 31-43 lead.
The Bobcats put together one final
surge late in the fourth quarter. Micah
Bennett, Morton and Scales led the way to
trim the deficit to 63-36 with 2:34 left to
play. Even in defeat, it wasn't a bad per
formance against a skilled Mallard Creek
squad that was 12-1 for the season.
Leading the way for Glenn was
Carlton and Scales, who finished with 14
points apiece. Mallard Creek got superb
play from its backcourt tandem of
Demitrious Dixon'and Elliot Glenn, who
scored 19 and 18 points respectively.
At this juncture, there's no doubt that
the Bobcats have much work to do in order
to become a factor in the Piedmont Triad
4-A Conference. There were too many
instances in the fourth quarter against
Mallard Creek when botched defensive
assignments led to uncontested baskets
from point-blank range.
"Defensively, everybody has to do a
Jiv v . '
"'C V ""1:' T'i?
"
K - ' rt.
better job of knowing where their man is
[on the floor]," said Daniels. "We can't
afford to have those mental lapses like we
did at the start of the fourth quarter. That's
when they got it going and that's what
determined the outcome of the game."
"On the other hand, I saw some good
things, We're more patient running our
offense. Once we get a better understand
ing of how to break the press and be more
consistent in sharing the ball, I believe
we're going to be all right."
P
Photo by Craig T. Greenlee
Glenn point
guard Miguel
Morton drives
past Mallard
Creek's Elliot
Glenn (left) and
Demitrios Dixon
(right). ?
Photo by Craig T.
Greenlee