By John Clark
TAR HEEL – JaQuan McRae dropped in 3 lay-ups during an 8-0 closing spurt that rallied Clarkton School of Discovery to a 23-16 non-conference middle school boys basketball victory over Tar Heel Thursday night.
Tar Heel’s Osvaldo Fures sank a free throw with 3:53 left to play to edge the Panthers ahead 16-15, before McRae’s lay-up with 2:40 remaining vaulted the Blue Devils in front 17-16. McRae netted another lay-up off of an in-bounds pass, Braylon Johnson and Omar Powell made free throws, and McRae flipped in another lay-up.
Azarion Willis topped the Clarkton scoring with 9 points and 9 rebounds. McRae followed with 7 points, 9 rebounds and 4 steals. Topher Callihan pulled down 8 rebounds, and Omar Powell added 4 points.
Levi Garcia led the Panthers with 6 points, and Fures followed with 5 points. Shyron Thompson grabbed 10 rebounds for Tar Heel, Keon Whittington snared 7 rebounds, and Demarius Guions captured 5 rebounds. Cedric McKiver had 4 rebounds.
Willis threw in an 8-footer, and Powell tossed in a runner for the Blue Devils to start the game. Fures dropped in a lay-up off of a Garcia assist then banged in a follow shot. Garcia drilled in a 3-point shot to push the Panthers ahead 7-4 at the quarter break.
Powell made a free throw for the only CSD point in the 2nd period, and Whittington drained a 3-ball from the corner to pad the Tar Heel halftime lead to 10-5.
The Blue Devils’ full-court press forced 12 Panther turnovers in the 3rd quarter and keyed a 10-2 run that vaulted Clarkton ahead 15-12. McRae cashed in a free throw, but Guions answered with a follow shot. Willis scored a trio of lay-ups off of the turnovers and netted a free throw, and Callihan put back a rebound.
Garcia tied the game 15-15 with a 3-point shot 42 seconds into the final quarter.
The Blue Devils will play Elizabethtown Wednesday at 5:15 in the Bladen County Tournament at Elizabethtown. Tar Heel will battle Bladenboro in the 4 p.m. game Wednesday.
Clarkton 4 1 10 8 – 23
Tar Heel 7 3 2 6 – 16
Clarkton (23) – Topher Callihan 2, Azarion Willis 9, Hunter Wood, JaQuan McRae 7, Omar Powell 4, Braylon Johnson 1, Noah White, Isaac Elkins, Cayden Moore, P. Powell, Ryne Priest, Aiden Trinidad, Z. Pone.
Tar Heel (16) – Levi Garcia 6, Keon Whittington 3, Cedric McKiver, Demarius Guions 2, Shyron Thompson, Sterling Davis, Cooper Mills, Osvaldo Fures 5, Elijah Council, Jarvis McMillian, Dylan McLaurin, Ronnie Labra, Carson Navarro, Jordan King.
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