Memphis East defeats Whitehaven, 64-55
Whitehaven led for the entire first half, and for most of the third quarter until Memphis signee James Wiseman took over. After a first half that featured the Memphis East’s guards taking more jump shots, the backcourt finally settled in…
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Continue ReadingWhitehaven led for the entire first half, and for most of the third quarter until Memphis signee James Wiseman took over.
After a first half that featured the Memphis East’s guards taking more jump shots, the backcourt finally settled in and fed Wiseman and his teammate, Malcolm Dandridge in the paint, and the Mustangs rallied behind their frontcourt for the 64-55 win Thursday night to improve to 5-1.
Wiseman finished with 31 points and 14 rebounds. Dandridge added 17 points and 13 rebounds.
The Tigers’ big man, Jordan Wilmore, was on the bench more than he would have liked because of foul trouble. While he sat on the bench with three fouls in the third quarter, the No. 1 player in the 2019 class put on a show. Wiseman scored East’s final 11 points of the third quarter to give the Mustangs a 48-45 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Wiseman knocked down a big 3 from the top of the key over Wilmore to start his offensive push, and he kept that stride heading into fourth, scoring nine points, while the home team went almost four minutes without scoring a basket, stuck at 45, following Matthew Murrell’s two made foul shots. East wouldn’t put the game away until Antonio Thomas made a layup in transition.
It was 63-52, and fans who came to support Whitehaven started heading for the exits.
“Every day I work on my craft, so I work on everything, all of the aspects of my shot,” Wiseman said. “So, I’m really used to it. When the ball came to me, I knocked down the jump shot.”
Coach Javonte Holmes went with a deeper lineup against the Tigers. It was a new dynamic Holmes tried out six games into the season. With Thomas and senior guard Derrein Merriweather in foul trouble, Holmes relied on an inexperienced group to play in a big game.
Senior guard Nautical Harwell, junior guard Isaiah Cathey, junior forward Kylan Haywood, and sophomore guard Tadarius Jacobs were relied on to play big minutes, and Holmes liked the progress he saw from the group of guards.
“These young guys are stepping up big,” Holmes said. “They defended, they rebounded. They’re doing all of the selfish less things to help this team win.”
The outside jump shots were falling in the first half for Whitehaven, which was the reason it jumped out to a lead and held it for the entire first half. Junior guard Matthew Murrell scored 13 points in the first half to help the Tigers build a 38-27 halftime lead. He made three 3s in the first half and wouldn’t make another one until the final seconds of the fourth quarter when the game was out of reach.
Murrell finished with a team-high 21 points. Alvin Miles finished with 11.
As a team, Whitehaven (7-3) made six 3s, but those shots weren’t enough to give the Tigers the win.
“Obviously, this was a make and miss game,” Tigers head coach Faragi Phillips said. “If you make them, it’s fun, and you’re able to contend with a team like East, but if you miss them, it makes it hard, because we’re a team that thrives off shooting the three and getting easy baskets.
“So, in the first half, we were making shots, and that was, kind of, keeping us in the game,” Phillips continued. “And it helped us on defense, because it didn’t allow them to get easy baskets on the other end. In the second half, we didn’t make those same shots. They started going through James and Malcolm, which I think was the key.”
3 takeaways
- When the mismatch is there, Memphis East’s guards have to feed Wiseman and Dandridge. When they’re in good position in the post, they should get the basketball.
- If the inexperienced group of guards for the Mustangs can continue to play well, East will be tougher to beat for the remainder of the season.
- Whitehaven is a team that lives and dies by outside shooting and transition points. If the shots do not fall, the Tigers’ offense will struggle to score. It was evident against East. Whitehaven has lost two games in a row. The Tigers play at Wooddale next Monday night.