Gallery by Greg Barnett
Princeton – Sam Boothe and his Mercer Christian teammates know how fill it up on the offensive end of the floor.
Friday night when Greater Beckley Christian came calling, the Cavaliers proved they knew how to play some defense as well.
Clamping down on the Crusaders all night and controlling the glass, Mercer Christian ran past its Raleigh County neighbor 60-45.
“Greater Beckley is much improved. John Rose is one of the best players in the state. He has a big heart and is hard to guard,” Mercer Christian head coach Jeff Boothe said. “We knew John was going to get his. We tried to help in the paint and I thought we did that extremely well. We did a good job of keeping their shooters (Averyk Woodson and Kash Hendrix) at bay and we were able to close out on them so they didn’t get many clear looks. I thought we maybe played our best defensive game (of the season).”
The home team led by five points after one quarter, but with just over a minute left in the half, the lead was only four and Greater Beckley was firmly in the basketball game.
Sam Boothe changed that in a span of 25 seconds.
The senior standout drilled a 3-pointer and followed it up with a strong drive to the basket, giving Mercer Christian a 33-24 lead at the break.
The Crusaders answered quickly to start the second half with a bucket from Aaron Hall and a kick-out 3-ball by Hendrix off an offensive rebound from Rose.
Rose did what he could to keep Greater Beckley in the game, scoring the reaming six points in the quarter, but it was not enough.
Solid work on the glass and accelerated efforts from M.J. Patton and Shaye Basham helped Mercer Christian run out to a 46-35 lead with eight minutes to play.
“They are just a tough group of kids and they have some really good players. Sam Boothe is one of the toughest players we face. We had a really good defender on him and he still had a good night. He is a willing passer and he is a great kid too,” Greater Beckley head coach Justin Arvon said. “Patton hurt us and Basham hurt us. We were over-helping on defense and leaving shooters open. You can’t do that. This team can shoot the ball and we came in knowing that.”
The Cavaliers padded the lead to open the final quarter when Boothe snagged another offensive rebound and found Basham free for a 3-pointer.
Just when Greater Beckley looked knocked out, it showed some life on the glass to score six straight points.
A stick back from Rose was followed by a steal and a layup from Reece Patterson. When Hall skied for another rebound and stick back, the Cavaliers wanted a timeout.
“We had a stretch where they got a bunch of offensive rebounds and were getting back in the game,” coach Boothe said. “I called a timeout and we re-focused on offensive rebounds. The next four or five possessions, they were one and done.”
While the Crusaders were going three minutes without scoring, Mercer Christian exploded on an 11-0 run to put the game on ice.
“They were tougher than we were tonight and they were more crisp on the offensive end than we were. They were willing to make the extra pass and they took better shots all night long,” Arvon said. “They are older and more experienced than we are, but at the end of the day, it is only one game. We are still improving, we just had a little setback tonight.”
Mercer Christian entered the game battling some adversity, down one starter, senior Brair Lucas, who was injured Thursday in practice.
“It was a big blow to our team, but I was really proud of them with the next man up (mentality),” coach Boothe said. “We got some good minutes off the bench from Gage Thompson, a sophomore, that doesn’t play very often. He stepped up big. Also (Chance Watkins) got hurt last night, so we weren’t 100 percent.”
Another player that stepped up Friday was junior Isaac Sharp. While Sharp scored six key points, his biggest contribution was on the glass where he collected nine rebounds with six coming on the offensive end.
“We have to develop the ability to rebound. The first half and throughout the third quarter, they out-rebounded us to death,” Arvon lamented. “Aaron Hall stepped up rebounding in the second half, but we have to have all five. We are not blocking out and we are not getting to the glass. When you turn the ball over and lose the rebounding battle you are not going to win.”
While Rose was scoring 20 and Hall was busy getting 10 points, it was no match for the three-headed monster from Mercer Christian.
Boothe, Basham and Patton all combined to score 52 points on the night. Boothe also had 12 rebounds, while Patton hauled down seven boards.
“Really proud of our three main guys. They really carried us without Lucas in the game,” coach Boothe said. “They made a point tonight that they were going to lay it on the line and trust the guys coming off the bench.”
Mercer Christian (11-3) has another tough battle Saturday when it hosts Calvary Baptist (13-4) who beat the Cavaliers back in November, 60-52.
GBC: 10 14 11 10 – 45
MCA: 15 18 13 14 – 60
Greater Beckley
John Rose 20, Aaron Hall 10, Reece Patterson 2, Kash Hendrix 3, Hunter Laxton 6, Averyk Woodson 4. Totals: 21 0-0 45.
Mercer Christian
M.J. Patton 12, Isaac Sharp 6, Shaye Basham 21, Sam Boothe 19, Chance Watkins 2. Totals 21 11-13 60
3-pointers – GBC: 3 (Hendrix, Laxton 2); MCA: 7 (Patton, Basham 3, Boothe 3).
