3 observations from Cordova’s win over Ridgeway

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Cordova took care of business Wednesday night, defeating Ridgeway, 81-67, in the quarterfinals round of the MLK Tournament. The Wolfpack will play Whitehaven in a semifinals matchup Friday afternoon.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Here are 3 takeaways from Cordova's win over the Roadrunners:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Staying calm</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This is the second game this season the Wolfpack have gotten off to a slow start. Junior guard <strong>Kayin</strong> <strong>Mitchell</strong>, and seniors <strong>Brian</strong> <strong>Carter</strong> <strong>Jr</strong>. and <strong>Joshua</strong> <strong>Thornton</strong> made shots early for Ridgeway, which was trying to set the tone early. After the first eight minutes, Ridgeway led 26-24. In the second quarter, [player_tooltip player_id='1213161' first='Julius' last='Thedford'] and [player_tooltip player_id='2321858' first='Jay' last='Tyler'] got into a nice rhythm and helped Cordova go into halftime up 38-34. The Wolfpack took their opponent's best punch. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Cordova just stayed calm, kept moving the basketball, getting great looks, and communicating on the defense end. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It all worked. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Thornton would only score three of his 14 points in the second half. Carter (15 points) and Mitchell (10 points) scored points late in the second half when the game was out of reach. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Wolfpack built a 55-40 lead in the third quarter, which started with a 3 from Thedford. Senior point guard <strong>Emerson</strong> <strong>Tenner</strong> made a 3 of his own. Senior <strong>Randin</strong> <strong>Johnson</strong> had a monster dunk during the team's scoring surge. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Defensive intensity</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Cordova did a great job of making Ridgeway's primary ball handler <strong>Marlon</strong> <strong>McShane</strong> uncomfortable. Tenner didn't allow him to get great looks at the basket nor allow him to get the Roadrunners into their offense. The painted area, where McShane wants to live, was unavailable. Senior guard <strong>Dominic</strong> <strong>Jamieson</strong> smothered McShane as well. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>McShane was held to just four points. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Ball movement</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Wolfpack weren't stagnant on offense. They kept moving, and the basketball kept moving as well. Cordova didn't have a problem getting great looks out of Ridgeway's zone defenses. Whether it was Tenner or Tyler penetrating into the middle of the zone, the Wolfpack got great looks at the rim. Some of those great looks were layups and floaters. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Wolfpack had seven different guys score for them Wednesday night. Thedford led the way with 22. Tyler and Tenner each had 21. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Other news</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Melrose defeated Wenonah on Wednesday. The Wildcats will play Haywood County in a semifinals matchup on Friday.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->