Legacy burns past Ridgeway in Nashville
The third quarter escaped Ridgeway, as the Legacy Charter men exploded 87-55.
Drawn 34-34 at the half, the Music City MLK Classic game opened up like a gash to the forehead.
“Really our coach told us we are doing everything we are supposed to do on offense, but we gotta learn how to play defense and we went out there with a mindset that we had to play defense harder,” said Legacy Charter forward Tyrell Mendenhall. “Be more aggressive.”
The decisive third frame ended with Legacy Charter up 19 points. In all, they scored 27 points and buried Ridgeway with a full quarter remaining.
The length of Legacy Charter really bothered Ridgeway. Between Nicolas Claxton (PrepHoopsSC #2), Shy’Qua Grimes, and Tyrell Mendenhall LC easily captured the rebounding battle, 38-23.
Claxton scored 15 second half points, many inside the lane. The long lefty managed to get free looks from deep, making two outside shots in the second half. His agility is special for someone 6-foot-10.
Claxton is signed to the Georgia Bulldogs.
Parting Ways
Antonio Thomas, Tylar Haynes, and Antwan Beans made the opening half competitive. Beans scored 11 before the break and an efficient Haynes helped with 15 (6-7 FG’s).
The second stanza was not so kind.
“Stop #3 and #24,” said LC forward Shy’Qua Grimes. “That is what (coach) said.”
The quickness of the Ridgeway guards meant little from fifteen feet in. Legacy Charter was simply playing higher and harder than the home-state team.
After halftime the Ridgeway guards kept feeding the post, but the ball came back on the break instead of through the hoop. The size of Mendenhall swallowed up every rebound.
“Every day in practice we work on boxing out and being aggressive,’ said Mendenhall. “You have to be aggressive or you don’t play.”
Ridgeway Brandon Odell’s size helped a little, and he converted earned free throws. Early in the fourth quarter Odell drew a charge. He looked comfortable at the charity stripe, a rare chance for Ridgeway to add on easy points.
Defensively, Ridgeway had no answers around the tin. Seemingly every time the ball entered the lane Legacy found a feebly contested layup.
Rashawn NealMendenhall converted eight of his 10 shots and Shy’Qua Grimes dumped all seven shots in. He was literally unstoppable.
From 69-44 the game ballooned once again to 76-46.
Rashawn Neal powered past his defender and finished stoutly. The physical guard finished with 10 points, 10 assists, and five rebounds. Claxton lead all scorer with 23 points and 10 rebounds.
Legacy Charter plays Monday against Summit (TN) at 3:00 P.M. Eastern.