Published Feb 4, 2016
Freshman Delivers for Maury
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Matthew Hatfield  •  VirginiaPreps
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When Matt Coleman transferred to Oak Hill in the off-season, longtime Maury Head Basketball Coach Jack Baker knew his squad would be devoid of a marquee player in their quest to qualify for the 5A-South Region Tournament.

After all, they went from reaching the State Tournament Semis during Coleman's freshman season to narrowly missing regionals last year with the highly recruited prospect from the Class of 2017 leading the team in several statistical categories.

Yet, the Norfolk school has a player with the same last name looking to make his mark.

Matt's younger brother - freshman guard Chase Coleman - sank a late three-pointer to lift a slumping Commodores squad past Salem 62-61 on Wednesday night in Virginia Beach.

"We were about to be on a three-game losing streak and knew we needed to bounce back," Chase said.

It was a topsy-turvy finish, and game for that matter. Maury led 19-14 through one quarter of play, but Salem battled back to tie it at 33-all going to half-time.

To start the third quarter, Maury came out hot and led by as many as 11. However, Salem chipped away at that deficit and actually led by six with under two minutes to play. Then the zaniness took place.

A three-pointer from Bryan Phillips, another Maury freshman, on a feed from Anthony Williams (headed to Norfolk State for football) brought the Commodores within three. Salem missed the front-end of a one-and-one opportunity, allowing Coleman to tie the game at 59-apiece on a three-pointer with a minute remaining.

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The SunDevils re-claimed the lead on a lob from Ray Ward to Brandon Mitchell with 45 seconds left. A Maury turnover the next trip down meant all the SunDevils needed to do was burn some time off the clock and make some free-throws to walk away victorious, but a turnover with 26.2 seconds to go gave the ball back to the visiting Commodores.

Chase seized the moment and knew it was his turn to get a game-winner since older brother drained a buzzer-beater at Norcom last year to give Baker his 700th career victory.

"I remember because it was the same play," Chase replied.

"We ran our out of bounds play. I had just hit a shot on one side. I told my teammates to ball-fake it and I'm going to go to the other side because I thought that was going to get them. It got them. He (the defender) ran out hard, so I took one dribble, he went for it, stepped back and pulled the trigger."

Coleman's step-back trey with 19 seconds to play proved to be the eventual game-winner when Salem's shot at the buzzer was off the mark.

"Basketball is a game of runs," added Chase. "Since we got this win, it should put us back in the race."

Maury improved to 13-6 overall and 7-4 in the Atlantic Conference with the win. Meanwhile, Salem dropped to 10-9 overall and 6-5 in the Atlantic Conference.

Just two games back of Maury for the #3 seed in a Conference 9 Tournament that'll only take four teams is Princess Anne, which holds the head-to-head tie-breaker with the Commodores by virtue of two head-to-head wins this season.

PROSPECTS IN PLACE AT SALEM:

Though they are just a game above .500 and may not earn their first regional playoff berth in five years, the SunDevils have next-level talent of note on the roster.

Most promising of them all appears to be 6-foot-1 sophomore guard Jonathan Norfleet, who was able to affect the game in a variety of ways despite just an average shooting night from the perimeter. His athleticism in the open court was noticeable all night long in posting 13 points - nine after half-time - to go with five rebounds, five assists and a couple of steals.

It's no surprise that St. Francis (PA) already offered Norfleet before his sophomore year. If his skills continues to develop on the track they are headed, he'll have several more by the time he's ready to graduate.

Ward was getting to the basket at will in the first half, scoring 15 points on 7-of-9 shooting before the third quarter. The sophomore plays with a fearlessness that often permeates throughout the rest of the team.

Maury made the two guards a focus of their defensive game-plan in the second half, limiting Ward to just two points on 1-of-7 shooting over the final two periods.

"That's their guys. Norfleet is a great athlete and Ray Ward is a great athlete, too. I respect them. They're good players," Coleman stated.

"We wanted to keep them out of the lane. You've just got to do what you've got to do to win."

Beyond Norfleet, Salem blends in a good mixture of size and length with 6'7" junior center Brandon Mitchell and 6'6" junior small forward Trevon 'T.J.' Taylor.

Mitchell had a slow start, but quickly got going in the second half. In fact, in the fourth quarter, he keyed the comeback with nine of his 17 points and also collected eight rebounds to go with a couple of blocks. At this level he's a natural center, whereas in college he could really draw some attention from Division I and Division II programs as his skills away from the basket progress.

Earlier this season, Taylor posted a double-double of 11 points and 15 rebounds in a 62-36 upset of Landstown. While his stats weren't great vs. Maury - just four points on 1-of-2 shooting with three assists and two blocks coming off the bench - he fits the bill of a sleeper for the next level that should be in position to grab a scholarship.

NUMBERS DON'T LIE:

One of the most surprising results of the 2015-16 campaign to date came last week when Maury lost at Kempsville 63-51. Prior to the contest, the host Chiefs were only 5-11 overall. It was the Commodores' first and lone loss to date to a team below .500.

As many were scratching their heads wondering how it happened, the numbers tell the story. Maury got out-rebounded 42-27 by the Chiefs that night, according to Baker. Furthermore, they were 9-of-28 from the free-throw line and shot only 26% from the field.

Not every stat was in Maury's favor vs. Salem, such as committing 17 turnovers with seven in the fourth quarter alone. Nonetheless, they were able to turn around a couple of key departments.

From three-point territory, the Commodores went 7-of-13 compared to 5-of-14 for Salem. Daniel Stoner helped set the tone with a pair of first quarter 3's and was 3-of-3 from behind the arc on the evening.

On the glass, Maury out-rebounded Salem - a taller team on the front-line - by a count of 24-20.

Last yet certainly not least, the Commodores shot 55.6% from the field (25-of-45).

"We got a lot of transition points. Once we held them to one shot, we were able to rebound and push," Coleman commented.

"We just have to be more patient and know who we're passing the ball to at times."

Final Stats:

Maury Commodores 62: (13-6 Overall; 7-4 in Atlantic Conference)
Bryan Phillips - 22Pts. 8-12FG, 5-8FT, 5Reb. 4Ast.
Anthony Williams - 12Pts. 6-12FG, 2Reb. 3Ast.
Chase Coleman - 11Pts. 4-8FG, 3-6 3's, 7Ast.
Daniel Stoner - 9Pts. 3-3 3's

Salem SunDevils 61: (10-9 Overall; 6-5 in Atlantic Conference)
Brandon Mitchell - 17Pts. 7-10FG, 8Reb. 2Blk.
Ray Ward - 17Pts. (15 in the 1st Half), 8-16FG, 1-3 3's
Jonathan Norfleet - 13Pts. 6-13FG, 5Reb. 5Ast. 2Stl
Jaylen Latimer - 6Pts. 2-4FG, 2-2 3's, 2Ast.


Matthew Hatfield serves as State Basketball Analyst for VirginiaPreps.com, part of the Rivals.com Network, and is a staff writer for Tar Heel Illustrated. Check out Hatfield’s Twitter page for more sports related updates, and you can also read his work in the Suffolk News Herald. To contact Matthew, please e-mail hatfieldsports2k4@yahoo.com, and don’t forget to listen to him every Saturday at 10AM on ESPN Radio 94.1, plus watch him on the Cox 11 Sports Report.