Semoball

Charleston gets redemption with win over NMCC

Charleston’s Dentrez Ewing attempts to block a shot by NMCC’s Jadis Jones during the Blue Jays 58-55 victory on Tuesday, Jan. 11. (Dennis Marshall/Standard-Democrat)

NEW MADRID, Mo. — It was an electric atmosphere for Charleston’s 58-55 win at New Madrid County Central on Tuesday, Jan. 11, in a battle of arguably the two best teams in southeast Missouri.

The Blue Jays (12-2) avenged a loss from the semifinals of SEMO Conference Tournament with the thrilling victory.

“This game has been marked on all of our calendars since that night,” said Charleston head coach Jamarcus Williams. “It was on all of their minds. Our players knew they didn’t play up to the best of their abilities after that first that meeting, and they came out and showed that tonight. I really liked the way we played and battled.”

The teams exchanged a couple baskets to the start the game, but Charleston finished the first quarter on a 13-0 run that was capped off when Fletravion Stanback grabbed a long rebound, dribbled the length of floor and popped a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Blue Jays a 17-4 lead.

Despite the lopsided score, both teams played well in the first quarter. Each rebounded, displayed good intensity on defense and limited their mistakes. The difference was Charleston made a lot of heavily contested shots and NMCC struggled from the field and the free throw line.

“I’m extremely proud of my guys for having the confidence to take and make those shots,” Williams said. “We talked about confidence before the game because we weren’t very confident in the first game. We missed some shots that we normally make. But tonight, they had trust and belief in what they are capable of doing, and they made a lot of big shots.”

PJ Farmer absorbed some contact and banked a shot high off the glass to give Charleston its largest lead of the game, a 26-10 advantage, with four minutes and one second remaining in the second quarter.

However, the second quarter was stalemate with each team scoring 15 after the Eagles (6-2) were finally able to shake off the cobwebs from playing just two games in the past month. NMCC’s Keyon King and Jadis Jones made back-to-back baskets in the final minute of the quarter to narrow the score to 32-19 at halftime.

The Blue Jay’s Rico Coleman scored the first points of the second half, but the Eagles answered with an 11-0 run that included a 3-pointer from AJ Ruff and solid finishes at the basket by Jones, Shamar Williamson and Marcelous Phillips.

“A great team responded,” Williams said. “Typically, we have been strong coming out of halftime this season, but they owned us in the third quarter.”

Coleman made a nice play to end Charleston’s scoring drought where he displayed patience and control in the paint to split through a couple of defenders. NMCC dwindled the lead down to three points a couple of times, but Stanback converted a three-point play and Coleman made a short shot to extended the lead back out to 45-38 at the end of the third quarter.

It was easy to see how much this game meant by the ferocity each team displayed on defense in the fourth quarter.

“Both teams showed a lot of grit,” Williams said. “We had a good cushion in the first half and was not expecting the rest of the game to go like that, but these two groups have been going out with each other since middle school.”

The Eagles continued to crawl their way back as Williamson scored seven consecutive points to tied the game 47-47.

“New Madrid is a very talented team with a legendary coach,” Williams said. “He isn’t going to allow them to lay down. No matter the situation, he’s going to find a way to keep his team in it.”

Coleman and Jones each reentered the game with 4:05 remaining after both picked up their fourth fouls earlier in the quarter.

Ruff swiped a steal and passed ahead to Phillips, who found Jones streaking to the basket to give NMCC a 49-47 lead, but Coleman tied the score moments with a putback. Then Ruff grabbed another steal and found Jones for a layup in transition to make the score 51-49 with 2:38 left to go, but Koterrion Owens answered with a pair of free throws. Phillips snagged an offensive rebound and found Williamson for a 3-pointer to give the Eagles their biggest lead, a 54-51 advantage with 1:21 remaining.

Charleston never seemed rattled. Owens hit a free throw and Tyrion Sinks made a layup to tie it 54-54 with just under a minute remaining, but Phillips made a free throw to give the Eagles a one point advantage moments later.

However, the Blue Jay regained the lead after a critical field goal from Stanback. Charleston then forced a turnover on the next possession and Farmer found Coleman for an emphatic slam dunk to make the score 58-55 with 4.3 seconds remaining.

“I had to do something special because I could see everyone in the crowd starting to stand up as I was coming down the court,” Coleman said. “I just went up and made a play for my team.”

NMCC had a chance to send the game into overtime, but its last second prayer was just off.

“We picked up the intensity on defense, got a couple of steals and some big buckets at the right moments,” Williams said. “This means a lot to us and we hope to use this momentum, win a couple more big conference games and make a push for the conference championship at the end of the season.”

In addition to being a great overall game, the contest also featured some excellent individual battles between AAU teammates and two of the top prospects from the area in Coleman and Jones.

“That’s my brother, but it feels good to get some revenge,” Coleman said. “Everyone wants to have bagging rights. They have a really talented team, and it’s a great feeling to beat a team like that.”

Coleman, a junior, has already received at least one Division-1 offer and interest from many others. He finished the game with four steals, three rebounds and two assists to go with a team-high 16 points.

“This win means a lot to all us, but we’re far from finished,” Coleman said. “We still have a lot of big games ahead of us, and ultimately we are trying to earn our way to the big one.”

Jones is considered by many recruiting experts as the top sophomore in the state of Missouri. He finished with a game-high 22 points, in addition to seven rebounds, five assists and four steals.

The game’s other top performers were Stanback with 12 points, eight rebounds, three steals and three blocks; Farmer with 11 points, four rebounds and two steals and Williamson with 17 points and 11 rebounds.

The Eagles had a 27-20 edge in rebounding, but the Blue Jays were able to overcome it by shooting 56 percent from the field. Each team committed 12 turnovers.

Although NMCC suffered the loss, the team showed tremendous determination to battle back after facing some serious adversity.

“It was tough having such a long layoff,” NMCC assistant coach Dontre’ Jenkins said. “It can get the guys out of their game routine, and it was definitely a factor tonight. We dug ourselves into a hole. We came out sluggish and Charleston came out on fire.”

Charleston hosts Scott County Central (6-5) on Friday, Jan. 14, and then travels to Metropolis, Ill. to compete in the Superman Classic starting on Jan. 17.

NMCC competes in Springfield, Mo. for the Bass Pro Tournament of Champions Jan. 13 through 15.

Charleston17151313-58
NMCC4151917-55

CHARLESTON (58) – Rico Coleman 16, Fletravion Stanback 12, Tyrion Sinks 6, Koterrion Owens 6, Almareion Williams 5, Dentrez Ewing 2. FG 21. FT 8-14. F 19. (3-pointers: Farmer 2, Williams 1, Stanback 1).

NMCC (55) – Jadis Jones 22, Shamar Williamson 17, Marcelous Philips 9, AJ Ruff 3, Adrian Smith 2, Keyon King 2. FG 20. FT 13-23. F 14. (3-pointers: Williamson 1, Ruff 1).

NMCC JV tops Charleston

The NMCC junior varsity team defeated Charleston 54-45.

The Eagles were led in scoring by Dominique Betts with a game-high 24, while Tayshon Clark was the Blue Jay’s leader with 11.

Charleston310248-45
NMCC1316817-54

CHARLESTON (45) – Tayhson Clark 11, Gorvarion Johnson 6, William Logan 6, Larry Horton 6, Zachyran Thomas 6. FG 12. FT 13-28. F 17. (3-pointers: Clark 3, Horton 1).

NMCC (54) – Dominique Betts 26, Brayden Newson 16, Marvion Cranford 6, Julian Courtois 4, Ra’Mond Brooks 2. FG 20. FT 9-18. F 18. (3-pointers: Betts 1).

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