Moravian Prep pounces on Spartans late
By David Kehrli
Posted Dec 17, 2019 at 9:57 PM
There was no feeling good about trimming a double-digit deficit and for a period of time looking like it could go down to the wire.
Not among those on The Burlington School boys’ basketball team.
“A big emphasis that I made to our guys in the locker room is that our program isn’t for moral victories,” TBS coach Ryan Bernardi said. “It’s not where this program is. We expected to win that game.”
There were still good developments — ones to build on — in the Spartans’ 79-63 loss to a nationally ranked Moravian Prep squad in a non-conference matchup Tuesday night.
“We’ve got to take the good that we did and translate it,” Bernardi said. “The beautiful thing about this schedule is we went through trials and tribulations and we have a few more ahead of us that are going to prepare us for February. They present so many challenges that we handled in some good ways.”
Mylyjael Poteat’s scoring outburst lasted for a period of 90 seconds, in which he scored four consecutive buckets for the Spartans (9-4) late in the third quarter to cut a 15-point deficit to nine.
“He was a beast in the second half,” Bernardi said.
The Burlington School’s JiLil Michael drained his fourth 3-pointer of the night with 6:35 to play in the fourth quarter to make it a two-possession game at 58-52.
“It’s so great for him to see the reward for his work,” Bernardi said. ”... JiLil’s work resulted in a great game. He was all over the place defensively. I’m really proud of how JiLil played.”
Poteat finished with 23 points to lead the Spartans while Michael provided 14 and JaDun Michael added 13.
Then Moravian Prep’s top players came through late. North Carolina State signees Josh Hall and Shakeel Moore combined for 14 of their team’s 23 fourth-quarter points to shut the door on the Spartans. They did so in front of N.C. State coach Kevin Keatts.
“Josh Hall was really good in the fourth quarter. We tried a few things against him and it didn’t work,” Bernardi said. “I thought our shot selection wasn’t as good in the fourth quarter as it was through the first three. We were getting great shots for 24-26 minutes of that game.”
Hall and Moore led the Lions (15-0) with 20 points apiece.
JiLil Michael got off to a fast start, making three 3-pointers in the first half and showing off some accurate passing skills.
The Spartans trailed 41-29 after missing opportunities to put the ball through the hoop in the early going.
“I really think that in the first half, if we would have made a few more free throws and we had converted on some bunnies and some open 3s,” Bernardi said. “we’re down two or four at halftime, rather than 12.”
By David Kehrli
Posted Dec 17, 2019 at 9:57 PM
There was no feeling good about trimming a double-digit deficit and for a period of time looking like it could go down to the wire.
Not among those on The Burlington School boys’ basketball team.
“A big emphasis that I made to our guys in the locker room is that our program isn’t for moral victories,” TBS coach Ryan Bernardi said. “It’s not where this program is. We expected to win that game.”
There were still good developments — ones to build on — in the Spartans’ 79-63 loss to a nationally ranked Moravian Prep squad in a non-conference matchup Tuesday night.
“We’ve got to take the good that we did and translate it,” Bernardi said. “The beautiful thing about this schedule is we went through trials and tribulations and we have a few more ahead of us that are going to prepare us for February. They present so many challenges that we handled in some good ways.”
Mylyjael Poteat’s scoring outburst lasted for a period of 90 seconds, in which he scored four consecutive buckets for the Spartans (9-4) late in the third quarter to cut a 15-point deficit to nine.
“He was a beast in the second half,” Bernardi said.
The Burlington School’s JiLil Michael drained his fourth 3-pointer of the night with 6:35 to play in the fourth quarter to make it a two-possession game at 58-52.
“It’s so great for him to see the reward for his work,” Bernardi said. ”... JiLil’s work resulted in a great game. He was all over the place defensively. I’m really proud of how JiLil played.”
Poteat finished with 23 points to lead the Spartans while Michael provided 14 and JaDun Michael added 13.
Then Moravian Prep’s top players came through late. North Carolina State signees Josh Hall and Shakeel Moore combined for 14 of their team’s 23 fourth-quarter points to shut the door on the Spartans. They did so in front of N.C. State coach Kevin Keatts.
“Josh Hall was really good in the fourth quarter. We tried a few things against him and it didn’t work,” Bernardi said. “I thought our shot selection wasn’t as good in the fourth quarter as it was through the first three. We were getting great shots for 24-26 minutes of that game.”
Hall and Moore led the Lions (15-0) with 20 points apiece.
JiLil Michael got off to a fast start, making three 3-pointers in the first half and showing off some accurate passing skills.
The Spartans trailed 41-29 after missing opportunities to put the ball through the hoop in the early going.
“I really think that in the first half, if we would have made a few more free throws and we had converted on some bunnies and some open 3s,” Bernardi said. “we’re down two or four at halftime, rather than 12.”
