Menchville Wins PenSouth Tourney
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style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>5A-South
PenSouth Conference 10 Tournament Championship
class=GramE>:
Final - - #4
class=SpellE>Menchville 65, #2 Warwick 52
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Even though both teams had already secured spots in the
5A-South Region Tournament that will start on Tuesday, the Menchville
Monarchs and Warwick Raiders wanted to go in with a winning taste in their
mouths. The two split a pair of regular
season meetings with Warwick winning the most recent encounter in overtime,
storming the Monarchs' home court.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>After losing three of four games by a total of nine
points, the Monarchs have re-grouped in a strong way and the #4 seed took home
the PenSouth Conference Tournament Championship on
Saturday night with a 65-52 win over the Raiders.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Although the crowd at the Norfolk Scope was far from
packed to capacity, there was plenty of anticipation amongst the players on the
Newport News rivals. And of course, kids
can't stay quiet for but so long.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"They started it off with some talking on our social
networks. We really didn't say
much. We don't like to say much outside
of the court and like to let our game do the talking," remarked
class=SpellE>Menchville senior
Devin Hinson, who got his team off to a solid start with nine points, seven
rebounds and four assists in the first half as they bolted to 29-20 lead.
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>
115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Menchville
style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>,
which eliminated top-seeded Hampton in the conference semifinals, opened with a
7-0 advantage before Warwick junior guard Lewis
Freeman responded with five points to draw the Raiders closer.
style=> From the second quarter on, Freeman made only
2-of-7 from the field and the Monarchs didn't let anyone else erupt.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"We know Lewis Freeman is very good.
style=> We understood that, did the best we could on
him and let's be honest about it, it helped that he got in foul trouble,"
admitted veteran Menchville Head Basketball Coach
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Dennis Koutoufas,
trying to take a third team to the State Tournament after leading Denbigh
(1987) there as well as Heritage (2000, '02, '03).
style=> "They're a different team with him in
there. But I thought we did a good job
on the other players, and that's what we haven't been doing."
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>What Menchville also did was
make their foul shots count. The
Monarchs converted 19-of-22 at the charity stripe, including 11-of-12 in the
fourth quarter to salt the game away.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Warwick, which fell to 13-11 overall in its first season
under new Head Coach and former Kecoughtan assistant
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Willie Gause (
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>who got his coaching start as an assistant
with Koutoufas at Heritage), went nearly 14
minutes to start the game without a turnover.
They committed four over the next six possessions to fall behind by
nine, and it got up to 10 when the fourth quarter started when the Monarchs
went on a mini 6-0 spurt to close the third period.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Up next for Warwick is a date with Maury, who's 22-2
overall and saw their 14-game winning streak snap in a 58-52 loss to Green Run
in the Conference 9 Tournament Championship at Scope.
style=> It'll be the first region playoff game since
2008 for the Raiders.
115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Menchville
style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>,
now 18-6 overall, will make its third regional playoff trip in four years under
Koutoufas.
Their opponent is Green Run, who they edged in double-overtime in the
regionals in 2012.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"That was a great game," recalled Koutoufas.
style=> "The one kid [Tyler] Blount is still there
and is probably the only one we know.
They're a very good team and were very impressive."
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>What would a win mean for the Monarchs?
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"It would be another step towards making history at our
school," answered Hinson. "We're more
experienced as a team this year compared to last year and growing every
game. As long as we stay together as a
team, we'll keep going."
style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
Player of the Game:
style=> Menchville PG Devin
Hinson - -
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Any one of three or four players for the Monarchs could've
warranted being Player of the Game to be truthful.
style=> A two-year starter at the point, Hinson
finished with 14 points, seven rebounds, six assists
and only misfired on two shots all night long.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"I just let the game come to me naturally and play
however it lets me," Hinson said. "What
got it done for us was rebounding and defense."
style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
Keys to Victory:
style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>#1
- - Dominate the Backboards:
style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>For
the evening, Menchville ended up with a convincing
34-18 advantage in the rebounding column.
To go with Hinson's seven boards from the guard spot, junior power
forward Elijah Murphy grabbed 13 rebounds
to go with his 11 points and give him a double-double.
style=> Lanky junior center
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>DeQuon
normal'> Lake added five boards.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"Early in the game, some of our rebounders were taking
long shots. They made the adjustment,
started to get inside and we got a lot of offensive rebounds,"
class=SpellE>Koutoufas pointed out.
"That helped us a ton."
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>As for Warwick, second chance points were nowhere to be
found. The Raiders came up with just one
offensive rebound in the first half, four of them for the game.
style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
#2 - - Balanced Scoring:
style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Six-foot-4
junior Richard Washington exploded
for 34 points, 17 in the first quarter alone, and sank seven three-pointers
when the Monarchs beat Hampton 69-59 earlier in the week to qualify for
regionals. With the defense keeping
close tabs on where Washington was at all times, that opened the door for
others to shine, and the Monarchs have been extremely successful when all five
players on the floor touch the ball and score.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"It's key to have that because it makes it so there's
no one person they have to stop on our team,
"Hinson stated. "With that, there's no
person they can double and say that'll make them win."
115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Menchville
style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
got a collective effort in the win over Warwick.
style=> While Washington was held to nine points,
Hinson and fellow senior guard Tim
Hewett scored 14 apiece with Hewett having 10 in the second half.
style=> Murphy and reserve
normal'>Brandon Clary scored 11 each, and Lake chipped in six, highlighted by
an alley-oop flush off a feed from Washington.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"I thought some guys off the bench did well.
style=> Brandon Clary is an example,"
class=SpellE>Koutoufas agreed. "Some
nights he doesn't get very much time at all.
We got in foul trouble with Lake, he came in
and was very, very productive."
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
#3 - - Beat the Press:
style=> Part of why Washington didn't have a huge
night offensively was the role he was asked to play in this particular matchup.
style=> Basketball is a game of matchups and often
times certain styles have an effect. For
the Monarchs to come out on top, they couldn't have a boatload of turnovers
against a Warwick team that likes to mix it up defensively and turn up the
pressure.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"It wasn't Washington's game because they were
pressing. He's throwing over the
press. That means so much to us.
style=> He doesn't get as many points because of
their press. That's just the way it is.
style=> And the other night, he had his big game,"
class=SpellE>Koutoufas said.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"We did a good job.
Once we got ahead, we knew if we could handle their press we would be
okay."
115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Menchville
style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
had 12 turnovers, committing only three during the middle quarters, a 16-minute
span. It was no coincidence that their
lead doubled, from five to ten, in that stretch of time.
style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>
115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";text-decoration:none;text-underline:
none'>Postgame Audio with Menchville Coach Dennis
class=SpellE>Koutoufas
line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
Final Stats:
style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Menchville
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>
115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'> Monarchs:
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>
115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
(18-6)
Devin Hinson - - 14Pts. 4-6FG, 6-7FT, 7Reb. 6Ast.
Tim Hewett - - 14Pts. (10Pts. 2nd Half), 6-11FG
Elijah Murphy - - 11Pts. 2-5FG, 7-9FT, 13Reb.
Brandon Clary - - 11Pts. 4-6FG, 4Reb.
Richard Washington - - 9Pts. 3-11FG, 3Reb. 4Ast. 2Stl.
DeQuon Lake - - 6Pts. 3-6FG, 5Reb. 2Blk.
style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Warwick
Raiders:
style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
style=> (13-11)
Devante Taylor - - 14Pts. 5-9FG, 4-7FT
Ray Rawles - - 13Pts. 3-5FG, 5-6FT, 3Reb.
Lewis Freeman - - 11Pts. 4-11FG, 1-3 3's, 2-4FT
Calvin Green - - 9Pts. 4-4FG, 5Reb.
Malik Lowe - - 5Pts. 5-8FT, 6Reb.
style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
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