An Ace in the hole
Evans’ heroic shot, 21 points propel Spartans
WHITEFISH BAY - When it counted most, Martin Luther played its ace and he produced.
Junior guard Ace Evans’ drive and finish off the glass with 2.2 seconds left lifted the Spartans boys basketball team to a 69-67 victory over Dominican on Friday night in front of a packed house on the road. The victory raised the team’s record to 13-1 overall and 7-0 in the Metro Classic. It marked the fifth time this season it has won a game by five points or fewer.
The victory also allowed the Spartans, who are ranked third in the area by the Journal Sentinel, second in the wissports.net Division 3 coaches poll and fourth in the Associated Press ranking, to complete the first half of the Metro Classic undefeated with road wins against two of their chief rivals. They won at Prairie School on Dec. 8.
Martin Luther’s victory coupled with second-place Prairie School’s win over Racine St. Catherine’s on Friday sets up a showdown between the league’s top two teams Tuesday at Martin Luther.
Here are five takeaways from the
game.
In the clutch: Evans’ game-winner completed a 21-point night for the 6foot-1 left-hander. His play has been key for the team’s success in the absence of junior point guard Trequan Carrington, who has been out for about a month with a left ankle injury.
On the final possession, Evans got the ball just past half court and went to work.
“We went to a play we run quite a bit in practice and Ace made a great crossover behind his back and got to the basket and made a great finish,” Martin Luther coach Paul Wollersheim said.
Impressive night: With UW-Milwaukee assistant Terrance McGee on hand, Martin Luther’s Xzavier Jones, a 6-5 junior guard drawing Division I interest and offers, had what Wollersheim called his best game of the season. Jones finished with 21 points and was particularly strong attacking the basket.
Jones is also a versatile defender, and in the final minutes he showed his ability to defend smaller guards when matched up against Dominican senior Gacoby Jones.
Youth movement: Dominican, which is ranked third in Division 3 by AP and fifth by the coaches, dropped to 10-2 overall and 5-2 in the league. Gacoby Jones and sophomore guard Abe Scruggs had 19 points each for the Knights. Scruggs made four straight free throws in the final 26 seconds to allow the Knights to tie the game with 12 seconds left.
The team trailed by as many as 12 points in the second half, but rallied with a rotation of players that usually included three freshmen most of the time.
Quinton Murrell, a 6-2 guard; Eferin Burns, a 5-9 guard; Ronald Kirk Jr., a 6-0 wing guard/forward; and Delone Austin, a 6-0 guard forward, all played during crunch time.
Versatility: Martin Luther is not just dangerous because of its depth, but because of its ability to hurt opponents in different ways.
In the second half, the Spartans did the job attacking the basket and working inside the arc. In the first half, they hit 6 three-pointers. Senior guard Gabe Mack-Rountree (16 points) did the most damage, hitting four before the break.
Waiting game: Both teams played without key players due to injury. Dominican’s Alex Antetokounmpo, a 6-6 sophomore forward, was out as was Carrington.
Wollersheim said he expects his point guard to be out another two or three weeks. The squad is 7-0 in his absence.
“Most of these guys have been on varsity with me for two and three years now, so they know (what to expect) defensively and putting game plans together,” Wollersheim said. “Everything is similar, so it’s not like there is a lot of new stuff going on. They understand what we should do and how we should do it.”