CLARKTON – Forward Ra’Sean McKoy poured in a season-high 16 points to lead Elizabethtown to a 45-30 victory over Clarkton School of Discovery Thursday night in the Bladen Five Middle School Conference Boys Tournament Championship.
Ra’Sean McKoy also grabbed 7 rebounds and had 3 steals. Teammate Lefrederick Wooten filled the stat sheet with 8 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals.
Center Javant McDowell pulled down 13 rebounds, scored 7 points and blocked 3 shots for the Cougars. Teammate Zach Meares pumped in 8 points and had 3 steals, and guard JaQuez McKoy finished with 6 points and 3 steals.
Center J. T. Junious and guard Garrett Melvin shared Clarkton scoring honors with 9 points each. Junious added 4 rebounds and 4 steals, and Melvin had 3 steals.
Jake Garrison finished with 7 points and a team-high 9 rebounds for the Lady Blue Devils. Cornelius McArthur grabbed 5 rebounds, and Jacob Priest pulled down 4 rebounds.
Wooten drilled a 3-point shot to start the game, and JaQuez McKoy stole the ball and raced for a lay-up and a 5-0 lead. Malachi Oxendine popped in a 10-footer for Clarkton to cut the lead to 5-2.
McDowell dropped in a lay-up then flipped in a 4-footer off of a feed from Ra’Sean McKoy to boost the lead to 9-2. Melvin banked in a 3-pointer from the right wing, and Junious drained a 15-footer to pull Clarkton to within 9-7 at the quarter break.
A Wooten assist produced a Ra’Sean McKoy lay-up that began the second quarter. JaQuez McKoy sank 2 free throws to pad the lead to 13-7, before Melvin drove for a Blue Devil lay-up.
Ra’Sean McKoy hit another free throw, and Meares nailed a 3-point shot from the left corner then turned another Wooten assist into a lay-up. A Wooten follow shot pushed the Cougar lead to 21-9.
Junious made a free throw for CSD, but McDowell converted a Wooten assist into a lay-up. Meares canned a free throw, and Ra’Sean McKoy turned another Wooten assist into a lay-up and a 26-10 halftime lead.
The Blue Devils rallied in the third quarter as Junious pumped in a 15-footer and Melvin drained a long 3-pointer from the right wing. Ra’Sean McKoy sandwiched a free throw and a short jumper around a Junious 16-footer from the key.
Garrison flipped in an 8-foot runner, McArthur converted a rebound into a 3-point play and Junious knocked down a jumper from the left elbow that pulled the Blue Devils to within 29-24. A Wooten free throw upped the count to 30-24 at the quarter break.
Garrison buried a 3-point shot from the right wing, and Melvin hit a free throw to narrow the Cougar lead to 30-28 with 5:31 remaining.
JaQuez McKoy popped in a 12-footer from the right elbow to stop the Clarkton run, and Ra’Sean McKoy muscled in a rebound and tacked on a free throw. A JaQuez McKoy assist to Ra’Sean McKoy resulted in a 4-foot baseline jumper and a 37-28 Cougar lead.
Garrison raced for a transition lay-up that was the final Blue Devil basket. Wooten beat the Clarkton press for a lay-up, and Meares stole the ball and sprinted for a lay-up. McDowell sank a free throw, and Ra’Sean McKoy stole the ball and capped the scoring with a lay-up and old-fashioned 3-point play.
Elizabethtown won the regular-season and tournament championships and finished with a 9-1 record. Coach Robert Mazur’s Blue Devils were the tournament runners-up with a 6-4 record.
CLARKTON SCHOOL OF DISCOVERY (30) – Garrett Melvin 9, Jake Garrison 7, Jacob Priest, J. T. Junious 9, Malachi Oxendine 2, Cornelius McArthur 3, Donevin Keith, Nyshawn McMillian, Jackson Bostic, Nick Norris, Javious Brooks, Joseph Masaid, Nathan Lacewell.
ELIZABETHTOWN (45) – JaQuez McKoy 6, Javant McDowell 7, Lefrederick Wooten 8, Zach Meares 8, Brady Hollingsworth, Drew Sholar, Ra’Sean McKoy 16, Raymond Autry, Malcolm Bolden, Layne Ross, Ahmad Powell, Marvin McKiver, Darius Autry, Ryan Yandle, Makhi Cromartie.
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