3 takeaways from Memphis East’s win over Whitehaven

<p>The home crowd at Memphis East High School was into the game from the jump.</p> <p>And so were the Mustangs.</p> <p>Memphis East (16-4, 5-0) laid it all out Tuesday night for the 89-76 win over Whitehaven (18-2, 4-1) in the first meeting between both teams this season.</p> <p>Here are three takeaways from the Mustangs’ win over the Tigers:</p> <p><strong>Memphis East limited Whitehaven’s scoring attack</strong></p> <p>The Tigers live and die by the 3. They like to get those 3s off turnovers and in transition. The Mustangs took those transition 3s away from Whitehaven, which played desperate for the rest of the way after losing the 6-5 lead in the first quarter. The Tigers made 10 3s, with eight of them coming when the team was trailing by double digits in the second half. Senior guard <strong>Kavion</strong> <strong>McClain</strong> made six of the team’s 10 3s. McClain led Whitehaven with 28 points.</p> <p><strong>Alvin</strong> <strong>Miles</strong> finished with 16. <strong>Jesse</strong> <strong>Payne</strong> added 13.</p> <p>Whitehaven jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead in the first quarter, but Memphis East reeled off a 7-2 run take a 7-6 lead. Once the Tigers lost their lead, the Mustangs had complete control and Whitehaven played catchup for the rest of the way.</p> <p><strong>Whitehaven didn’t have an answer for <a href="https://prephoops.com/player/duane-posey/"><a href="https://prephoops.com/player/duane-posey/">Duane Posey</a></a></strong></p> <p>Senior forward <strong>Duane</strong> <strong>Posey</strong> had his way Tigers senior <strong>Devine</strong> <strong>Owens</strong>. Each time Posey received the basketball deep in the paint, he scored with ease. Posey finished with 18 points and 11 rebounds. He had plenty of other opportunities to score more points, but his teammates didn’t give him the basketball in time when he was in great position for an easy score.</p> <p><strong>Posey wasn’t the only problem</strong></p> <p>Posey was just a small fraction of what Whitehaven had to deal with. Junior guard <strong>Tadarius</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong> had a monster third quarter, scoring 13 points to push the Mustangs lead to 66-43 entering the fourth quarter. Jacobs finished with 28 points and seven rebounds. Senior wing <strong>Kylan</strong> <strong>Haywood</strong> had 14 points and eight rebounds. Senior point guard <strong>Isaiah</strong> <strong>Cathey</strong> added 14 points and eight assists.</p> <p><strong>Side note</strong>: Junior guard <strong>Jelani</strong> <strong>Willis</strong> helped Memphis East separate itself from Whitehaven. His 3 at the end of the first quarter made it 22-14. Then at the top of the second quarter, Willis’ layup made it 26-16. Haywood knocked down a corner 3 then pointed three fingers to the Tigers’ bench, resulting in a technical foul.</p> <p>Luckily enough, the foul didn’t swing the momentum to Whitehaven. A score by sophomore guard <strong>Kristain</strong> <strong>Spencer</strong> cut the Tigers deficit to 29-20, but a score by sophomore forward <strong>Markese</strong> <strong>Washington</strong> pushed his team’s lead back up to double figures.</p>