Stallions give Kliewer first boys' basketball win
By Chris Segal JACKSONVILLE DAILY NEWS
first-year coach Eric Kliewer his first win, but the Stallions’ 66-64 victory over Parrott Academy on Thursday night didn’t come easy.
After falling behind 26-16 in the second quarter, the Stallions rallied big time in the third quarter before building a 56-49 lead with 4:49 left in the game. Southwest then fought off the Patriots down the stretch, despite missing several free throws, to give what Kliewer said was a “trademark win,” for his young Stallions.
“We didn’t make it easy and that’s a mark of a young team,” he said. “But these kids needed a confidence booster because the first time we played Parrott it wasn’t good and they hit 11 threes on us. We focused on defense and tonight, even though we gave up 64 points, I think we did a little better against a coach Gulledge team that’s always well-coached.”
Parrott Academy (2-4), led by former Jacksonville and Kinston coach Wells Gulledge, beat Southwest 69-43 on Nov. 20. However, the Stallions (1-1) returned the favor by getting 21 points and 12 rebounds from 6-foot-3 freshman J’Ziah Morgan and 14 points and nine boards from 6-4 freshman Derek Green.
Junior guard Dylan Paskiewicz added 16 points, including 11 in the second half for the Stallions.
“First of all, hats off to Southwest and congratulations to them,” Gulledge said. “They played us back-to-back and they had some time to (make adjustments). The first time we played them we got into them pretty good, but they had a lot of pride and they beat our hind parts.”
Actually, it looked as if the Patriots were on their way to another lopsided win over the Stallions after Parrott built a 26-16 lead midway through the second quarter. But Southwest, trailing 33-26 at halftime, came alive in the second half, opening the third quarter on an 8-0 run to take a 34-33 lead.
Both teams essentially traded baskets the rest of the third quarter before Southwest opened the fourth quarter on a 6-0 run on field goals by Paskiewicz, Green and Morgan to take a 52-47 lead. The Stallions then scored two of the next three field goals to extend it to a 56-49 lead on a layup by Paskiewicz with 4:49 remaining.
Still, Parrott didn’t let Southwest pull away even more. The Patriots got within 56-55 with 3:46 left on two free throws by A.J. Banker, but Green followed with a layup. Paskiewicz then made a 3-pointer after the ball bounced around the rim a couple of times before falling to give the Stallions a 61-55 lead with 3:02 remaining.
Southwest led 66-58, but Parrott made two 3-pointers in the final two minutes, including one as time expired, for the final margin.
The Stallions just had enough to hold on, despite missing 8 of 10 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter.
“How to finish out a game,” Kliewer said, “we have to learn how to do that.”
The Stallions, though, put themselves in position for a win by slowing down the pace in the third quarter and looking to stay patient on offense. That strategy paid off as Morgan scored six points in the third quarter. Southwest was 9 of 19 from the field in the third while Parrott was 4 of 14.
“I think we played as a team and we played smart,” Morgan said. “We were down, but we kept our heads up and coach got us fired up at halftime. He told us to run our plays, slow it down and play smart.”
Indeed Kliewer did.
“We talked at halftime about our zone defense and we made some adjustments,” he said. “I felt if we could be more active in our zone, we might slow the game down. Parrott was getting runs on us and getting easy transition baskets. It was a matter of the defense locking down and us playing a little smarter on offense.”
Morgan and Green also benefitted from foul trouble to the Patriots’ big men. Parrott was led by Banker, a 6-2 sophomore, with 15 points and eight rebounds. Kris Wooten, another 6-2 sophomore, added 14 points and eight rebounds while 6-3 senior Matthew Chappell added 10 points and seven boards for Parrott.
“Yes, foul trouble is part of the game and it does mess everybody’s rotation up from time to time,” said Gulledge, adding his team was efficient in transition and 3-point shooting in the first half. “But that’s why we have teammates who should be able to step up in those situations and make plays.”
Nonetheless, the door was open for the Stallions to get dribble penetration and feed the ball to Green and Morgan inside.
“That’s where our strength is going to be at. Our size,” Kliewer said. “We have some young big guys inside.”
Parrott 17 16 14 17 – 64
Southwest 9 17 20 20 – 66
PARROTT (64)
Mayo 2, Fairsie 5, H. McLawhorn 5, Spear 7, Wooten 14, J. McLawhorn 6, Banker 15, Chappell 10. Totals– 20-58 16-19 64 .
SOUTHWEST (66)
Foskey 5, France 8, Paskiewicz 16, Dail 2, Green 14, Morgan 21. Totals– 26-55 10-26 66.
3-point goals –P 8 (Banker 3, Spear 2, Wooten 2, Fairsie). S 4 (France 2, Paskiewicz, Morgan). Rebounds –P 42 (Wooten 8, Banker 8, Chappell 7). S 37 (Morgan 12, Green 9, Paskiewicz 6). RECORDS –P: 2-4, hosts Cary Christian on Friday. S: 1-1, hosts Jones Senior on Tuesday.
By Chris Segal JACKSONVILLE DAILY NEWS
first-year coach Eric Kliewer his first win, but the Stallions’ 66-64 victory over Parrott Academy on Thursday night didn’t come easy.
After falling behind 26-16 in the second quarter, the Stallions rallied big time in the third quarter before building a 56-49 lead with 4:49 left in the game. Southwest then fought off the Patriots down the stretch, despite missing several free throws, to give what Kliewer said was a “trademark win,” for his young Stallions.
“We didn’t make it easy and that’s a mark of a young team,” he said. “But these kids needed a confidence booster because the first time we played Parrott it wasn’t good and they hit 11 threes on us. We focused on defense and tonight, even though we gave up 64 points, I think we did a little better against a coach Gulledge team that’s always well-coached.”
Parrott Academy (2-4), led by former Jacksonville and Kinston coach Wells Gulledge, beat Southwest 69-43 on Nov. 20. However, the Stallions (1-1) returned the favor by getting 21 points and 12 rebounds from 6-foot-3 freshman J’Ziah Morgan and 14 points and nine boards from 6-4 freshman Derek Green.
Junior guard Dylan Paskiewicz added 16 points, including 11 in the second half for the Stallions.
“First of all, hats off to Southwest and congratulations to them,” Gulledge said. “They played us back-to-back and they had some time to (make adjustments). The first time we played them we got into them pretty good, but they had a lot of pride and they beat our hind parts.”
Actually, it looked as if the Patriots were on their way to another lopsided win over the Stallions after Parrott built a 26-16 lead midway through the second quarter. But Southwest, trailing 33-26 at halftime, came alive in the second half, opening the third quarter on an 8-0 run to take a 34-33 lead.
Both teams essentially traded baskets the rest of the third quarter before Southwest opened the fourth quarter on a 6-0 run on field goals by Paskiewicz, Green and Morgan to take a 52-47 lead. The Stallions then scored two of the next three field goals to extend it to a 56-49 lead on a layup by Paskiewicz with 4:49 remaining.
Still, Parrott didn’t let Southwest pull away even more. The Patriots got within 56-55 with 3:46 left on two free throws by A.J. Banker, but Green followed with a layup. Paskiewicz then made a 3-pointer after the ball bounced around the rim a couple of times before falling to give the Stallions a 61-55 lead with 3:02 remaining.
Southwest led 66-58, but Parrott made two 3-pointers in the final two minutes, including one as time expired, for the final margin.
The Stallions just had enough to hold on, despite missing 8 of 10 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter.
“How to finish out a game,” Kliewer said, “we have to learn how to do that.”
The Stallions, though, put themselves in position for a win by slowing down the pace in the third quarter and looking to stay patient on offense. That strategy paid off as Morgan scored six points in the third quarter. Southwest was 9 of 19 from the field in the third while Parrott was 4 of 14.
“I think we played as a team and we played smart,” Morgan said. “We were down, but we kept our heads up and coach got us fired up at halftime. He told us to run our plays, slow it down and play smart.”
Indeed Kliewer did.
“We talked at halftime about our zone defense and we made some adjustments,” he said. “I felt if we could be more active in our zone, we might slow the game down. Parrott was getting runs on us and getting easy transition baskets. It was a matter of the defense locking down and us playing a little smarter on offense.”
Morgan and Green also benefitted from foul trouble to the Patriots’ big men. Parrott was led by Banker, a 6-2 sophomore, with 15 points and eight rebounds. Kris Wooten, another 6-2 sophomore, added 14 points and eight rebounds while 6-3 senior Matthew Chappell added 10 points and seven boards for Parrott.
“Yes, foul trouble is part of the game and it does mess everybody’s rotation up from time to time,” said Gulledge, adding his team was efficient in transition and 3-point shooting in the first half. “But that’s why we have teammates who should be able to step up in those situations and make plays.”
Nonetheless, the door was open for the Stallions to get dribble penetration and feed the ball to Green and Morgan inside.
“That’s where our strength is going to be at. Our size,” Kliewer said. “We have some young big guys inside.”
Parrott 17 16 14 17 – 64
Southwest 9 17 20 20 – 66
PARROTT (64)
Mayo 2, Fairsie 5, H. McLawhorn 5, Spear 7, Wooten 14, J. McLawhorn 6, Banker 15, Chappell 10. Totals– 20-58 16-19 64 .
SOUTHWEST (66)
Foskey 5, France 8, Paskiewicz 16, Dail 2, Green 14, Morgan 21. Totals– 26-55 10-26 66.
3-point goals –P 8 (Banker 3, Spear 2, Wooten 2, Fairsie). S 4 (France 2, Paskiewicz, Morgan). Rebounds –P 42 (Wooten 8, Banker 8, Chappell 7). S 37 (Morgan 12, Green 9, Paskiewicz 6). RECORDS –P: 2-4, hosts Cary Christian on Friday. S: 1-1, hosts Jones Senior on Tuesday.
