BOYS BASKETBALL: Long-range goals: Wilson leads Titans’ three-point assault in win over Indians

Published 9:22 pm Tuesday, January 8, 2019

Steven Wilson scored all 15 of his points in the second quarter — all on three-point baskets.

Memorial made eight of them that period — 11 for the game — and turned an early 11-2 deficit into a distant memory Tuesday night at home with a 74-48 rout of Cleveland.

“It helped motivate us,” Wilson said of the Titans’ three-point shooting. “Any little bucket picks our spirits up.”

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Memorial (16-6, 3-1 in 21-5A), which has won six straight, trailed 15-12 after one quarter but built an insurmountable lead with one long-range basket after another — with some shots inside the paint to boot.

“When you start off real slow, you give other teams a chance to stay in the game and win the game,” Titans coach Alden Lewis said. “We had to call a quick timeout, make some adjustments and the kids picked it up in the second quarter, playing Titan basketball.”

A 12-0 run put the Titans ahead 20-15 early in the second period as Cleveland (14-7, 1-2) went on a 5-minute scoring drought. Nate Clover, who led the Titans with 17 points, scored five straight during a 25-0 run to close out the half. Three of Wilson’s treys keyed the rally, which gave Memorial a 48-22 lead.

“We work on it every day,” Lewis said of the outside shooting. “We shoot before the game, during practice, but the deal is, we missed too many free throws today. In the long run, that could cost us.”

Memorial had a cold free-throwing night, making only 5 of 15. Cleveland made 11 of 18.

Kenneth Washington hit three of his four treys in the second quarter and finished with 12 points. Kenneth Lofton Jr. added 10 points and Amaree Abram had 10.

Cleveland has lost three straight — two in district play — after winning eight in a row. Chance Brown keyed the Indians’ fast start with two alley-oops and finished with a game-high 20 points. T.J. Waller added 15 and A.J. Wheeler had nine.

Memorial will visit Dayton on Friday, as Cleveland hosts district-leading Barbers Hill.

I.C. Murrell: 721-2435. Twitter: @ICMurrellPANews

About I.C. Murrell

I.C. Murrell was promoted to editor of The News, effective Oct. 14, 2019. He previously served as sports editor since August 2015 and has won or shared eight first-place awards from state newspaper associations and corporations. He was born in Memphis, Tennessee, grew up mostly in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and graduated from the University of Arkansas at Monticello.

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