A fourth-quarter comeback by visiting Carver kept Millennium Charter from picking up its first win in the Northwest Piedmont Conference.
The Lions held a double-digit lead at halftime of Friday’s game thanks to an 18-point second quarter. Carver switched its defensive scheme in the second half, holding Millennium to just 19 points, and knocked down key shots to come away with the 53-51 win.
Yellowjacket senior Lovell Johnson led the visitors with a game-high 26 points, 13 of which came in the fourth quarter. The Lions were led by senior Tristan Shockley with 19 points, followed by Aryan Hira with 14 and Landon Martin with 11. Shockley and Martin each grabbed six boards; Shockley added three assists and a pair of steals, while Martin had two assists and block.
Millennium and Carver traded buckets throughout the first quarter, and neither team scored back-to-back field goals until there was less than a minute left to play. Shockley’s hit the first 3-pointer of the game followed a free throw from Martin to put the Lions up 10-7, then Carver’s Michael Bonaparte hit three free throws off two trips to the line to tie the score at 10-10.
Carver utilized a full-court press out of the gate and really started applying pressure after the 10-10 tie. Millennium struggled to break the press at times in the first, and even when the Lions made it past the time line Carver kept MCA off the offensive glass.
Johnson scored the next five points for Carver as the Yellowjackets took what would be their largest lead of the night at 15-10. Millennium cut into the deficit when Shockley took it to the hole with three seconds remaining in the opening quarter.
The Lions ran the floor in the second quarter to tie things up within 38 seconds. Phillip Byrd rebounded a Yellowjacket miss then threw an outlet pass to Shockley, and Shockley rocketed a pass three-quarters down the court to Martin for an old-fashioned 3-point play.
Hira then scored eight points in the span of less than 25 seconds. The sophomore took a pass from Ethan Holliday and laid it in as the clock read 6:39. Hira stole the ball before Carver could reach halfcourt, then drove into the lane and was fouled as he banked in a layup. Hira missed the and-1 free throw, but it was rebounded by Martin. Martin immediately found Hira on the wing, and Hira drained a 3-pointer to bring the crowd to its feet.
Shockley nailed a 3-pointer off a Hira assist at 5:11 to cap off a 14-0 run by Millennium. Carver eventually added two field goals, but then Shockley scored the final six points of the quarter unanswered to MCA up 32-19.
Carver wasn’t out of the fight just yet. After shooting 0-of-7 from beyond the arc as a team in the first half, the Yellowjackets made 3-of-4 attempts in the third quarter. Carver also threw double teams at Shockley.
MCA was able to work around the double teams momentarily as it opened up Holladay and Hira on the low block. Carver adjusted to this as well, and outscored Millennium 17-8 in the third quarter.
The Lions still held a 40-36 lead at the start of the fourth quarter and Carver tied it up with two quick field goals. Martin scored an and-1 in the post and Hira hit two free throws, but Carver countered with a drive by Johnson and an NBA 3-pointer from Jermaine May to make it 45-45.
Carver went up 51-48 with less than a minute left to play. Martin scored off an inbounds pass from Hira with to make it a one-point game. After back-and-forth scoreless possessions, Shockley went to the line for two shots with 33.4 seconds on the clock and made 1-of-2.
Carver was without Johnson, who fouled out sending Shockley to the line. May was able to score for the Yellowjackets with 13 seconds left. Millennium ran up the court to try and tie things up, but Carver stole the ball and the Lions quickly fouled Joshua Perez with 5.3 to go. Perez missed the front end of a one-and-one, and Hira grabbed the rebound and sprinted up the court.
Hira attacked the basket and was fouled with 0.2 seconds to play. After his first shot rimmed out, Hira intentionally missed the second in hopes of a miracle tip-in that didn’t happen.
Millennium resumes conference play on January 11 by hosting Winston-Salem Prep.
Scoring
Carver – 15, 4, 17, 17 = 53
Millennium – 14, 18, 8, 11 = 51
CHS: Lovell Johnson 26, Tyler Vaughn 8, Jermaine May 8, Joshua Perez 6, Michael Bonaparte 3, Donald Grier 2
MCA: Tristan Shockley 19, Aryan Hira 14, Landon Martin 11, Ethan Holladay 5, Phillip Byrd 2
Source: https://www.mtairynews.com
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