New Richmond – After three quarters it looked like Wyoming East would cruise to an easy win on Monday night.
Instead the Warriors had to stave off a rally.
Leading by as many as 18 points in the fourth quarter, the host Warriors withstood a late Mingo Central comeback attempt, holding on for a 62-52 win Monday in New Richmond.
Leading by eight points at the intermission, the Warriors expanded their lead to 20 in the third quarter but mistakes and turnovers nearly cost them late.
After cutting the deficit to nine points with under four minutes to go in the game, Mingo switched to a pressure look that resulted in three of the Warriors’ five fourth-quarter turnovers. A pair of buckets from Mingo’s Jake Cline and Preston Smith sandwiched a Garrett Mitchell free throw, cutting the deficit to six but the Warriors secured the win at the free throw line, converting on 13 of their 16 attempts in the frame.
“We just got sloppy,” East coach Derek Brooks said. “We were trying to rush every thing and I don’t know why. We know they’re in a pressure so once it goes through the rim let it go through the rim. They’re already in it so let us set up in our press break. I think we got it and just tried to throw it. We turned it over a couple times doing that. We just kind of forced passes where we shouldn’t have and we weren’t strong with the basketball.”
The first three quarters told a different story for the Warriors.
They held the visitors to 28 percent shooting from the floor, allowing no more than four made field goals in either of the first three quarters. After three quarters the Miners had only mustered 25 points, struggling to get shots to fall against East’s stout defense that benefited from the returns of Chandler Johnson and Jacob Howard.
“I told them we played a very good three quarters defensively,” Brooks said. “There in the first quarter, quart-and-a-half, we didn’t finish our box outs and gave up easy buckets off of offensive rebounds. I felt like we could’ve easily held them to fewer points if we boxed out and went and got it. But I thought they played tremendous D in the first three quarters. In the fourth it kind of picked and they got some easy buckets but we can’t allow 27-point quarters and expect to win too many ball games.”
Getting to the point of holding a double-digit lead took a team effort for the Warriors.
Following up a 17-point outing in his first game back from a suspension on Saturday, junior guard Garrett Mitchell was stellar again, scoring 20 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the floor to go along with six rebounds.
While all-state teammate Tanner Whitten struggled with a slow start, Mitchell picked up the slack, scoring six points in the opening quarter and 13 in the first half.
Following a bucket from Mingo’s Matt Hatfield that opened the scoring, Mitchell connected on a 3-pointer to give the hosts their first lead. Mingo answered with its own trey but another long ball courtesy of Cole Lambert gave the hosts the lead for good. Mitchell added to it three possessions later when he knocked down his second 3 of the evening, giving his team an 11-7 lead.
His hot hand carried into the second quarter as he opened the frame with a steal and a layup that pushed the advantage to six.
“I liked what I saw from him,” Brooks said. “Two nights ago he had 17 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. Those are great numbers and I told him we need those from him night in and night out. He started out that way again on the defensive glass too but then they started boxing us out a little better but he had a good night scoring the ball. I think that’s what we’re going to get on a consistent basis with Garrett. A little bit of him shooting and attacking the rim and mixing it up. That’s what he does.
The lead held through the second quarter and was expanded upon in the third with the Warriors connecting on 47 percent of their field goal attempts in the quarter (7-of-15) while Mingo struggled, connecting at a 27 percent clip (4-of-15).
It gave the hosts enough breathing room to survive the Miners’ late run and sweep the season series against a regional opponent.
Mitchell and Whitten led East with 20 points each while Mingo’s Jarius Jackson finished with 21.
Up next for East is a sectional showdown with No. 3 Bluefield at the Brushfork Armory.
“We’ve got to focus on pressure,” Brooks said. “We’re going to have to be able to handle their pressure. I think if we handle their pressure it’s going to be right there for us to win it. Bluefield’s a good team, a well-coached team, they play hard, they’re athletic, they’re quick so we’ve got to come ready to play.”
The Warriors will travel to Brushfork on Wednesday.
Email: Tylerjackson@lootpress.com and follow on Twitter @tjack94
MC: 9 7 9 27 – 52
WE: 13 11 18 20 – 62
Mingo Central
Justin May 7, Jarius Jackson 21, Preston Smith 9, Jake Cline 12, Matt Hatfield 2
Wyoming East
Tanner Whitten 20, Garrett Mitchell 20, Tucker Cook 2, Cole Lambert 8, Chandler Johnson 9, Jacob Howard 3
3-point goals – MC: 5 May 2, Jackson 1, Cline 2); WE: 6 (Whitten 1, Mitchell 3, Lambert 1, Howard 1).