CALVARY CAVALIERS 73, MAGNOLIA CHARTER MARINERS 43
The Calvary Cavaliers remained undefeated in a district with a dominating 73-43 win over Magnolia Charter Mariners on Friday night at home. D’Marcus Hall bucketed 19 points and 7 rebounds. Nine of Hall’s points were from shooting 9 of 12 from the free-throw line. “He’s (Hall) tough,” Calvary head coach Victor Morris said. “He’s one of the kids that is going to do what we ask him to do. He’s a matching problem. Smaller guys will post him up. Bigger guys will stretch the floor and put it on the floor. He’s key for us and helps out with the younger guys open up their games too. “ Following up Hall, Labree Williams scored 12 and grabbed 7 from the boards. Ben Ponder was one rebound shy of a double-double as he scored 10 points and 9 rebounds. Martin McDowell was a defensive juggernaut with 5 steals for the night.
Calvary made it look easy against the winless Mariners, but Coach Morris reined in his powerhouse team. “I came out and told them that we can’t look at a team’s record. We’ve got to come out and play basketball we’ve been playing. We’ve been pretty good lately. I think that is four in a row. Now we’re in district time. Every game counts. We’ve got some tough games ahead. We’ve got to continue to do the things that make us successful.”
The Cavaliers may have had control of the complete game, they had a struggle containing Tyler Lewis who netted 28 points for the Mariners.
Calvary’s smothering full-court press in the opening of the game gave them the early advantage. Calvary took a 22-4 lead in the opening quarter.
Lewis opened the second quarter with back to back baskets. Hall ignited the Cavs on an 11-0 run. Hall popped five points and Williams added another four points during that run. Calvary had opened a 25-point lead and took a 46-15 lead.
Calvary alternated the bench the remainder of the game. Lewis continued to net points for Magnolia Charter as he scored eight points for the second consecutive quarter.
The Cavaliers cruised through the final quarter to move to 2-0 in District 1-A.
Calvary will have to take the next district game on the road and the road will get tougher according to Morris. “It’s going to be some tough games. We go to Homer on Tuesday. Ringgold is coming here. We’ve got Lincoln Prep down the road. We’re going to be ready to fight every night. We’ve just got to play together like we’ve been doing.” Morris is not joking about this statement. Currently, District 1-A can boast of three teams in the Class A power rankings. Calvary currently is No. 4 in Division IV.
Calvary will go to Homer on Tuesday night. Magnolia Charter will look for their first win as they travel to Arcadia next Tuesday.
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