Titans pull away late

For the first two-and-a-half quarters, Tuesday's meeting between the McDowell Titans and Marion Christian Academy Knights was a war.
And the final quarter-and-a-half? Well, not so much.
The Titans used a crucial, third-period run to turn a five-point lead into a double-figure advantage and never looked back en route to a 59-36 win over the Knights at Titan Gym in a game that was actually closer than the final score might seem to indicate.
The Titans never trailed in their season opener, but Marion Christian (6-2) was as close as 30-25 before McDowell went on its game-changing rally.
The Titans got big games from seniors Chavis Hamilton (11 points, 19 rebounds, 2 blocks), Brandon Dockery (14 points, 4 steals) and Eli Miller (8 points, 9 assists, 4 steals).
And they needed them to offset the post play of the Knights' Shaquille Symonette, a Bahamian transfer student who scored a game-high 18 points on 9-of-15 shooting, pulled 13 rebounds and blocked four shots. Johnny Wrenn (5 rebounds) scored eight for the Knights, but the 60-percent shooter struggled through an uncharacteristically poor 2-of-16 shooting night.
"I thought we played hard, but didn't always play smart," said McDowell head coach Lloyd Church. "We showed some first-game jitters, which kind of surprised me with the experience we have. But that's the way things are sometimes.
"Offensively, we weren't real good, but our defense, for the most part, was good. They hurt us inside with their size and they hurt us on the boards several times. But our defensive effort was good."
McDowell owned a 28-19 halftime lead after an ugly, scrappy opening half that saw the two clubs combine for 32 turnovers — 16 apiece.
But the Knights charged out of the locker room and pulled to within 30-25 on a basket by Christian McClendon (4 points, 8 rebounds) with 5:19 left in the third quarter.
Church called timeout, and the tide of battle turned.
Hamilton scored in the paint off an assist from Dakota Arrowood (2 points, 4 steals, 3 assists), and Miller made one-of-two free throws for a 33-25 advantage. Tyler Hopkins (7 points, 3-3 FGs) scored on a strong move to the basket, and Randall Conley (7 points) made a steal and layup for a 37-25 lead with 2:53 remaining in the quarter.
Marion Christian briefly drew back within 10 on Symonette's follow show, but another Conley bucket pushed the lead back to 39-27, and the Knights never got any closer than a dozen the rest of the way.
The Titans led 43-29 after three quarters and scored eight of the fourth period's first 10 points to make it a 20-point game at 51-31.
"We had our moments where it looked like we were in it, and then a couple of mental lapses were exposed by a good team," said Knights head coach Mike Hanlon. "We were in it for a while. It was fun."
And afterwards, it was cordial. Both teams met at center court and huddled together for several moments after the final buzzer sounded. It was a fitting epilogue for a game between youngsters who have played together and against one another all their lives.
"This is a good group of kids and they all know each other," said Hanlon. "They battle like crazy on the floor, but they'll all be at each other's houses tonight talking about it, and that's the way it should be. I was very pleased with the sportsmanship on both sides."
The shooting, however, was typical of an early-season game and left a lot to be desired.
The Titans shot just 39 percent (22-of-56) from the field, but the Knights hit for only 26 percent (16-of-61). McDowell was 11-of-21 from the line, while Marion Christian was just 2-for-5.
"We've got to do a little better with our post defense, make our free throws and take better care of the ball," said Church. "We've got a lot of work to do, but we're going to get better."
The Titans host Watauga Saturday (1 p.m. start—jayvee girls). Marion Christian is at Haywood Christian Dec. 4.