TBS boys put on dunkfest
By David Kehrli
Posted Feb 7, 2020 at 11:28 PM Updated Feb 7, 2020 at 11:34 PM
Spartans win Mid-Carolina Conference Tournament championship in blowout fashion
Working with a rearranged toolbox, The Burlington School boys’ basketball team fell behind early.
Then came the Spartans’ hammer — over and over again.
On the basket and over the opponent, the Spartans swung it down, producing a 94-42 victory against Crossroads Christian in the Mid-Carolina Conference Tournament championship.
Dunks came at will and with almost every Spartan getting up and throwing it down as The Burlington School won its third consecutive conference tournament title. The Spartans also won the regular-season league championship in each of those three seasons.
“It’s nice for our guys to get out in transition a little bit,” TBS coach Ryan Bernardi said. “Our defense created that. We were really good defensively.”
Spartans big man Kuluel Mading led the team with 24 points, the majority of which came on dunks, which included one of the windmill variety.
“That might have been the most dunks I’ve had in a game,” Mading said. “I just came in like it’s a conference championship, time to lock in. They’ve been telling me to dunk everything so I just felt like I should take that mentality. I gave it a try and obviously it worked, so I’m going to keep it up.”
Mading tallied 20 of his points in the first half.
“It’s all about Kuluel’s activity. When he’s active and when he’s going for rebounds and when he’s going for shot blocks, he plays really well,” Bernardi said. “He was special in that first half.”
The Burlington School was without three of its usual starters (Mylyjael Poteat, JaDun Michael and Ji’Lil Michael). That didn’t slow the rest of the Spartans down.
Jay Hladik poured in 21 points, Ryan Roberts scored 19 and Jesse Walters registered 17 as the Spartans (22-10) rolled. All four of The Burlington School’s top scorers were named to the all-tournament team with Mading earning Most Valuable Player honors.
Crossroads Christian (15-12) led 8-3 in the opening minutes, then the Spartans clamped down defensively. The Burlington School answered with a 19-3 run to close the first quarter and continued to gain distance from there.
“I’ve been hearing it since I was a little kid, ‘defense wins championships’,” Mading said. “We went out there, played great defense. We was in the gaps. We’ve practiced defense since day one of practice.”
Taylor Bell lead Crossroads Christian with 18 points. Zach Murphy scored 11 points and Sam Boyd provided 10.
By David Kehrli
Posted Feb 7, 2020 at 11:28 PM Updated Feb 7, 2020 at 11:34 PM
Spartans win Mid-Carolina Conference Tournament championship in blowout fashion
Working with a rearranged toolbox, The Burlington School boys’ basketball team fell behind early.
Then came the Spartans’ hammer — over and over again.
On the basket and over the opponent, the Spartans swung it down, producing a 94-42 victory against Crossroads Christian in the Mid-Carolina Conference Tournament championship.
Dunks came at will and with almost every Spartan getting up and throwing it down as The Burlington School won its third consecutive conference tournament title. The Spartans also won the regular-season league championship in each of those three seasons.
“It’s nice for our guys to get out in transition a little bit,” TBS coach Ryan Bernardi said. “Our defense created that. We were really good defensively.”
Spartans big man Kuluel Mading led the team with 24 points, the majority of which came on dunks, which included one of the windmill variety.
“That might have been the most dunks I’ve had in a game,” Mading said. “I just came in like it’s a conference championship, time to lock in. They’ve been telling me to dunk everything so I just felt like I should take that mentality. I gave it a try and obviously it worked, so I’m going to keep it up.”
Mading tallied 20 of his points in the first half.
“It’s all about Kuluel’s activity. When he’s active and when he’s going for rebounds and when he’s going for shot blocks, he plays really well,” Bernardi said. “He was special in that first half.”
The Burlington School was without three of its usual starters (Mylyjael Poteat, JaDun Michael and Ji’Lil Michael). That didn’t slow the rest of the Spartans down.
Jay Hladik poured in 21 points, Ryan Roberts scored 19 and Jesse Walters registered 17 as the Spartans (22-10) rolled. All four of The Burlington School’s top scorers were named to the all-tournament team with Mading earning Most Valuable Player honors.
Crossroads Christian (15-12) led 8-3 in the opening minutes, then the Spartans clamped down defensively. The Burlington School answered with a 19-3 run to close the first quarter and continued to gain distance from there.
“I’ve been hearing it since I was a little kid, ‘defense wins championships’,” Mading said. “We went out there, played great defense. We was in the gaps. We’ve practiced defense since day one of practice.”
Taylor Bell lead Crossroads Christian with 18 points. Zach Murphy scored 11 points and Sam Boyd provided 10.
