“Tuesday Night Throwdown” – Vance Travels To Mallard Creek and Suffers First Defeat
The Lady Cougars of Vance (3-1) traveled to the Creek on Tuesday night and came up dry in the fourth quarter as they suffered their first defeat of the season, 61-58. Mallard Creek (7-0) stayed the course despite trailing the…
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Continue ReadingThe Lady Cougars of Vance (3-1) traveled to the Creek on Tuesday night and came up dry in the fourth quarter as they suffered their first defeat of the season, 61-58. Mallard Creek (7-0) stayed the course despite trailing the majority of the second half. With contributions from multiple players and poise down the stretch, Clarence Johnson’s Mavericks were able to pull out the victory. Neveah Brown, a Wake Forest commit, led a balanced Mallard Creek starting lineup with 19 points. Kennedy Simpson added 14 and Samyah Suffren and Lauren Walker chipped in 11 apiece. The 5th starter for the Mavericks, Hailey Doctor, scored 6 big points late in the game for the entirety of the 61 points the team scored (more on this later). Yet, despite Mallard Creek’s victory, I honestly felt this was more about Vance losing the game than Mallard Creek winning. A few quick observations:
- Mental errors and turnovers doomed the Cougars. Tanajah Haynes is a enigma wrapped in a conundrum. On one hand, she is an amazing offensive talent. She can score 15 points rolling out of bed (in this game she had 15, 2 rebounds, 2 assists and at least 3 steals). Oh yeah, about those 3 steals …… remember in the summer time when your team has been on the court for like 7 straight games and you are exhausted and your man is about to go past you at halfcourt for an eventual layup so you decide to make a lazy swipe at the ball hoping for the clean steal? If you remember that, you probably remember what happens when you miss – your man blows past you and the rest of the defense is compromised and usually gives up an easy score. Hayes had 4 of those lazy swipes. Twice she put her teammates in jeopardy when she missed and twice she went in for easy lay ups. On the last of those swipes, she stole the ball, scored the bucket, mean mugged freshman Suffren and got an incredibly costly technical, in essence negating the play she had just made. It clearly was a deciding factor in the outcome. This young lady has game. She is a captain despite not being a starter. Clearly though, Vance needs her to start displaying the leadership indicative of her captaincy on the defensive end and in the 4th quarter. If she does that, this talented group won’t be blowing too many more 4th quarter leads.
- Speaking of turnovers ……. can anyone execute an inbounds pass? On three separate occasions in the 4th quarter, PF Trinity Moreland, who otherwise played a solid game (15 points and 7 rebounds) was unsuccessful inbounding the ball to Haynes. Twice the ball was stolen and the other pass resulted in a held ball situation. Soft, one-handed passes were the cause and indicative of the overall lack of valuing the basketball displayed by the Cougars in the 4th quarter. I kept wondering why Kyanna Morgan wasn’t the person shouldered with the responsibility of either making the pass or catching the pass.
- The 6’0″ Senior Forward Morgan was the best player on the court on Tuesday. A team high 16 points, 5 assists and 8 rebounds only tell part of the story. Morgan willed her team back from a 6 point 1st quarter deficit with strong, smart and effective play. Most impressive was that she was equally proficient on both ends of the court. After a fast start for Mallard Creek’s Simpson, Morgan shifted over to guard her and made her earn everything she got after the first quarter. This young lady has an amazing upside and will be instrumental in any big success that Vance has this year.
- Neveah Brown is a winner. The Senior power Guard was honored before the game in a ceremony recognizing her 1000 high school points. She is a quiet assassin. On the offensive end, she is an efficient scorer and good decision maker. It’s like you look at the box score at the end of the night, and you are shocked that she has a game high 19 points. The one place she isn’t quiet is on the defensive end. Virtually every game I have seen her play, she is good for a chase down block that makes you come out of your seat. The lady has hops and the kind of athleticism that suggests she can be a lockdown defender at the next level.
- Samyah Suffren is a great, young player but at this point in her development, she is not a Point Guard. Suffren is a force of nature and a phenom. She is one of the best freshman in North Carolina and likely one of the best in the entire country. What she isn’t is a Point Guard. She had 4 turnovers in the first half Friday. Against lesser teams, Mallard Creek can get away with loose ball handling because of overwhelming talent. However, until Suffren develops as a floor leader or until Coach Johnson puts the ball in Brown’s hand, Mallard Creek has a definite ceiling.
- Mallard Creek’s lack of depth or perceived lack of depth will come back to haunt them at some point. Mallard Creek scoring versus Vance: Starters – 61, Bench 0. Unfortunately, this isn’t an aberration. Even in games earlier this season against clearly inferior competition, the Mallard Creek starters played deep into the 4th quarter before giving way to the bench. Against Vance, only 2 reserves played – 6’0″ Junior PF Gabby Haynes and 5’8″ Post Jada Creech. Creech was particularly effective with her aggressive post defense which seemed to throw Vance’s Moreland sisters off their game. However the two subs were bigs and Brown and Suffren never left the floor. It’s forseeable that at some point (whether it be foul trouble or injury) in a big spot, the Mavericks will need minutes and production from 5’4″ Junior Guard Alexis Bynum or even 5’8″ Freshman Wings Ashley Fowler and Kairah Booker. The question is a classic chicken and egg situation: Does Coach Johnson need to trust these talented bench players more or do these players need to do more to earn their coach’s trust? The answer better be a positive one for Mallard Creek or when they travel to Vance or play Hopewell or other talented teams, they will likely see that their iron 5 isn’t enough to hold off all of these deep and talented squads.