Raleigh-Egypt defeats Hamilton, 69-48

<p>After junior forward <strong>Quintavious Bailey</strong> knocked down the game’s first 3, he went quiet for the rest of the first half.</p> <p>Raleigh-Egypt built a 16-point lead, then watched it dwindle in the second quarter. Heading into the third quarter, the Pharaohs needed Bailey to make some big shots.</p> <p>He did that.</p> <p>Bailey scored nine of his game-high 21 points in the third quarter to help Raleigh-Egypt (14-4, 3-1) outscore the young Wildcats (10-11, 2-3), 40-29, in the second half to put the Pharaohs over the hump with the 69-48 victory Monday night. In the first quarter, Raleigh-Egypt looked as if it wanted to put Hamilton away early.</p> <p>Ricky Lofties, Cory Griggs, and Bailey each knocked down a 3, and <strong>Deovaunta Williams</strong> threw down a monstrous dunk in traffic to ignite the crowd. The Pharaohs led 17-5 after the first eight minutes.</p> <p>Then, the momentum shifted.</p> <p>Raleigh-Egypt had seemed to let its foot off the gas pedal, and the Wildcats started making shots to get back into the game. Guard A. Burks was the main reason why Hamilton was able to cut into its huge deficit. Burks scored 12 of the Wildcats’ 16 points in the second quarter as they went into halftime down 29-21.</p> <p>Hamilton got within four after Burks (layup) and T. Grantham (two layups) scored six straight points. The Wildcats wouldn’t get any closer as Bailey got going for the Pharaohs. Bailey three 3s plus four points from Williams pushed Raleigh-Egypt’s lead up to 46-33. Bailey kept things rolling into the fourth quarter to ensure Hamilton wouldn’t get back into the game.</p> <p>“Deovaunta’s points jump at you and Bailey’s points catch you by surprise,” Pharaohs head coach Maurice Miller said. “It’s like hot and cold, then when you look at the book, one will have 20 and the other will have 18. So, every game, you never know when it’s coming, but I expect it.”</p> <p>Bailey scored nine points in the final eight points. Christopher McKnight got a fast-break dunk, and Williams made his way through traffic once again for another one-handed slam. In the final seconds, Williams threw down another dunk and hung on the rim, resulting in a technical foul.</p> <p>The ref didn’t count the basket.</p> <p>Williams finished with 14 points, with six of his points coming off dunks. Griggs added 13. Neither Williams nor Griggs played in the first meeting against the Wildcats, who defeated the Pharaohs, 77-72, on Dec. 5, 2018.</p> <p>Burks led Hamilton with 15 points. Grantham added 14. The Wildcats head coach Will G. Smith thinks this could be a learning curve for his young team as the season progresses.</p> <p>“Playing as a team is our biggest nemesis,” Smith said. “It’s feeling to the point that they want to do everything themselves, but they need to let someone else help, and I think that’s what our issue is right now.”</p> <p><strong>3 takeaways</strong></p> <ul> <li>Raleigh-Egypt was up 20 against Whitney Young in last week’s ARS Rescue Rooter National Hoopfest, but lost the game, 74-61. The Pharaohs can’t relax when they have a huge lead. It happened Monday night when they were up by 16 in the second quarter.</li> <li>Hamilton lost 13 seniors and some transfers from last season’s 3-A state championship team. This year’s team is still learning how to play with one another and face adversity.</li> <li>The Pharaohs have depth. They were missing senior point guard Kadran Boyce (illness), but Andre Johnson stepped in and gave Raleigh-Egypt some quality minutes. He finished with six points.</li> </ul>