Strong Second Half Propels Morehead To Victory Over McMichael
The Morehead Panthers and the McMichael Phoenix varsity basketball teams met in Mayodan on Friday night. The Panthers came in to the contest with a 9-0 record and eager to avenge losses in five of the last six meetings between the two. The rivalry matched two head coaches that are not only rivals but cousins and close friends in McMichael’s Randall Galloway and Moreheads Damien Price.
Neither team managed to gain a strong advantage in the opening period. Though the Panthers gained the early lead McMichael went on a 12-3 run as a result of 1 of 8 shooting from 3-point range by the Panthers. Stefan McLaughlin scored 6 of McMichael’s 12 first-quarter points to lead the Phoenix to a slight 12-10 advantage.
Blake Byrd had two 3-pointers in the second period to give Morehead a spark as he and Javen Chandler each chipped in 7 for the Panthers but the Phoenix managed to extend their lead, with balanced scoring, to take a 33-30 lead into halftime. McLaughlin and Gabe Caple combined for 19 McMichael first half points while Byrd and Chandler contributed 16 for Morehead.
The Panthers got off to a quick 6-0 start in the early third quarter on two Jarrett Stewart baskets. Morehead made up the three point halftime deficit and then some from 8 of 10 shooting from the floor. Shytiek Lampkin scored 7 and Chandler chipped in another 6 to give the Panthers a 54-49 lead entering the final period of play. Ben Simpson contributed 7 points for the Phoenix.
The Panthers began the fourth quarter with a 10-1 run in the first four minutes of play to extend their lead to 64-50. Morehead stretched the lead to 18 at one time until a late rally by the Phoenix. Chandler contributed another 9 points for Morehead and Caple and McLaughlin chipped in 6 each for McMichael. In the end it was Morehead with the 76-66 victory.
Chandler led all scorers with 22, followed by Byrd and Lampkin with 16 & 15 respectively. McLaughlin led McMichael in scoring with 18. Caple had 17 and Simpson had 14. The Panthers (10-0; 3-0) have a busy week ahead with three games in four days. They return to action on the road against Northeast Guilford on Tuesday, at home against Reidsville on Wednesday and again on the road Friday at Eastern Alamance. The McMichael Phoenix (5-5; 2-2) will host Western Alamance on Tuesday.
Morehead- 10 20 24 22 McMichael- 12 21 16 17
Morehead McMichael Javen Chandler 22 Stefan McLaughlin 18 Blake Byrd 16 Gabe Caple 17 Shytiek Lampkin 15 Ben Simpson 14 Jordan Sharpe 9 Michael Lyons 11 Jarret Stewart 5 Jackson Kirkpatrick 6 Aaron Carelock 4 Kenyan Allen 3 Dominique Dalton 2
Courtesy of Morehead assistant basketball coach Randy Epling