Locked in a tight game with host James Monroe for the better part of three quarters on Friday night, Caroline coach Antoine Johnson knew his team needed to do something to take control.
That something turned out to be a change in defensive philosophy, and it turned the game—and the race for the Battlefield District’s regular season championship—on its ear.
The Cavaliers used an aggressive full-court press and the prolific scoring of senior guard Mykai Smith to go on a 23-3 run that stretched over the final two quarters, turning a tight game into a comfortable 61-50 Battlefield District victory.
The win keeps Caroline’s hopes for a share of the district regular season championship alive. The Cavaliers (14-5 overall, 8-3 district) can tie the Yellow Jackets (12-10, 9-3) for the title if they win their lone remaining regular season game on Monday night at Eastern View.
“I felt like we were kind’ve stagnant for a while,” Johnson said. “So we switched it up to a different defense there in the second half, and it slowed [James Monroe] down and prevented them from getting the ball where they wanted to get it.”
Where the Jackets wanted to get the ball was into the hands of Ricky Goode-Wright. The sophomore guard, who scored 15 points in the first half, connected on one of his game-high six 3-pointers barely a minute into the third quarter to help JM build a 35-30 lead.
But Goode-Wright and the Jackets struggled to find much room to operate after that. Caroline ratcheted up its defensive pressure, trapping JM relentlessly from end to end and forcing 10 second-half turnovers as a result.
Smith and the Cavaliers were more than prepared to capitalize on the Jackets’ miscues. He finished the third quarter by dribbling the length of the court for a buzzer-beating layup that gave Caroline a 40-36 advantage, then started the fourth with back-to-back 3-pointers that resulted in the first double-digit lead for either team at 46-36.
After junior swingman Koby Metz sank a 3 from the left corner with four minutes remaining in the game, senior forward Christian Walker—a JM transfer—tipped in his own miss to extend the Cavaliers’ advantage to 53-38 and essentially put the final nail in the Jackets’ coffin.
“We’ve been stressing defense lately,” Smith said. “That’s what it was about tonight. We had to work for this, because everybody gives us their best shot when we play against them—especially JM.”
Smith finished with a game-high 31 points, marking the third consecutive game in which he’s scored at least 30. Junior guard Kaylen Taylor added 12 points of his own, while Metz finished with 10.
James Monroe ran out to a quick 7-0 lead in the game’s opening minutes, with Goode-Wright tallying five of those points. While the Jackets faced deficits of 17-14 after a quarter and 29-28 at halftime, Goode-Wright kept them going with his hot shooting, finishing with 15 of his team-high 24 points in the first half.
Girardi Cubillan struggled to find his footing, scoring just seven points on the night. JM’s 6-foot-6 senior forward had previously totaled 19 points, eight rebounds and six blocked shots in the Jackets’ 70-68 win at Caroline on Jan. 17.
“Our defense really cut down on the number of opportunities Ricky and Girardi had to hurt us,” Johnson said. “I really think that’s what got us going, because those guys hurt us the last time we played them.”
James Monroe owns a tiebreaker and will host next week’s district tournament, regardless of whether or not Caroline and Courtland (13-8, 8-3) win their final games to tie the Jackets for the district title.
“We just need to take care of business,” Johnson said. “That’s all we can do, is to win our games and try to get power points for regionals.”
The Cavaliers are currently seeded fourth in the Region 4B power-point rankings. The top four teams after the conclusion of next week’s regular season and district tournament games will earn first-round byes in the regional tournament.
“We want to finish out the season on a big note,” Smith said. “We’ve got a lot of firepower, and we feel like we can make a run.”
Caroline (14-5, 8-3): Mykai Smith 31, Jaylen Taylor 6, Kaylen Taylor 12, Tre Terrell 0, Koby Metz 10, Jay Childs 0, Christian Walker 2, Xavier Campbell 0. Totals 23 6-11 61.
James Monroe (12-10, 9-3): Girardi Cubillan 7, Ricky Goode-Wright 24, Aaron Carter 0, Tayon Doss 5, Kaison Barnett 2, Parker Smocer-Hildebrand 2, Lual Chol 4, Travis Hudson 3, Jeremiah McCormick 4. Totals 21 1-6 50.
3-pointers: Caroline 9 (Smith 5, K. Taylor 2, Metz 2). James Monroe 7 (Goode-Wright 6, Cubillan).
