Thursday, January 22, 2015

Bassick defeats Central

BRIDGEPORT -- In midst of a three-game losing streak that included a blown 17-point lead against Harding, Central coach Barry McLeod challenged his team to play with more intensity.
His players responded Wednesday with an inspired effort against Bassick, but they still failed to get the result he sought.
Just when Central made its run, Bassick answered, reeling off 10 straight points to pull away for a 76-62 road win.
"Any time two inner-city teams play, there's going to be a run made either way," Lions coachBernie Lofton said. "Once we withstood the run -- we figured that they were going to use a lot of energy -- we were going to turn it up a little bit with our pressure."
Central got as close as 49-46 late in the third quarter after trailing by 11 points at the half, but Bassick answered with a 10-0 spurt. The Lions (5-5) went up by as many as 17 points en route to a second straight win.
Kobe Ancrum scored 22 points to lead Bassick. Rajohn James chipped in 18 points, andCurhone Baldwin scored 12.
"The three, they carried us," Lofton said.
Limited to a short bench because of injuries, Central (5-5) was unable to keep pace with Bassick's speedy backcourt. The Hilltoppers got 20 points from guard Dyshaun Pulliam, but forward Marcus Blackwell was held to nine points -- below his season average.
"He always gives the effort, but his shots just weren't falling," McLeod said. "We cut it to three a couple times without him, but we just couldn't get over the hump.
"You need your best player."
Pulliam stepped up from the perimeter in the third quarter, scoring 10 points to pull the Hilltoppers within one possession. Baldwin answered with a pair of buckets to put Bassick back up 53-46.
With Central thriving from beyond the arc (five 3-pointers), the Lions switched from a man defense to a 1-2-2 zone to start the fourth. In turn, they outscored Central 25-16 over the final eight minutes.
The Lions have now won three of their last four games after a 1-3 start, and Ancrum believes they're on the cusp of breaking out. They visit Stamford (7-3) on Friday before returning home next week to face a pair of sub-.500 teams in Darien and Greenwich.
"This is our stretch right now," Ancrum said.
Central, meanwhile, is trying to find its way with a lineup that's still at less than full strength. Pulliam returned Monday after missing time with a sprained ankle, but the Hilltoppers remain without junior forward Oumar Keita (knee injury).
Center Fitzroy Henry, who returned last week from the flu, contributed 14 points. Dondre Daniels scored Central's first nine points and also finished with 14.
The Hilltoppers started the season 5-1, but the injuries finally have caught up to them.
"I've always had a bunch of timeouts at the end of games," McLeod said. "But this year, I've been using timeouts early as a mechanism just to get them a rest. I've never had to do that before.
"We just don't have the depth."
dbonjour@ctpost.com; twitter.com/DougBonjour
BASSICK (4-4)
Curhone Baldwin 6 0-4 12 Kobe Ancrum 6 10-13 22 Rajohn James 4 10-10 18 Mykell Stinson 1 0-0 2 Davonte Whitehurst 0 0-0 0 Jose Martinez 0 0-0 0 Kiante Smith 2 0-0 4 Jarod Hamilton 1 0-0 2 Tevin Cheatham 0 2-2 2 Brandon Hilario 0 0-0 0 Qualon Wilkes 4 0-1 8 Yarell Battle 0 0-0 0 Alex Jimenez 0 0-0 0 Malik Massey 1 2-2 4 Brevin McCullough 0 0-0 0 Cha'mon Highsmith-Davis 0 2-2 2. Totals 25 26-34 76.
CENTRAL (5-5)
Dyshaun Pulliam 7 2-2 20 Kaysone Washington 0 0-0 0 Dondre Daniels 4 5-6 14 Quinton Ballew 0 0-0 0 Marcus Blackwell 4 1-1 9 Jonathan Hartley 0 0-0 0 Jordan Edmonds 0 0-0 0 Joaquim Johnson 2 1-2 5 Charles Richardson 0 0-0 0 Fitzroy Henry 6 2-4 14. Totals 23 11-15 62.
BASSICK 16 20 15 25 -- 76
CENTRAL 15 10 21 16 -- 62
3-pointers: C -- Pulliam 4, Daniels.
Fouled out: B -- Smith; C -- Blackwell. Technicals: B -- Baldwin.












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