Saturday’s Rewind: Vertical Academy, Mikey Williams, come up just short in rally
A furious comeback by Vertical Academy came up just short as star guard Mikey Williams’ driving layup just rimmed out with three seconds left and Royal Crown School came away with an 80-78 victory in the 1-of-1 Invitational at Berry Academy on Saturday.
While neither team could really get into a flow in the first half, Royal Crown used depth, as eight different players scored and a late 9-3 run gave the Canada-based team a 33-31 lead at the half.
Royal Crown held a 56-51 lead after three quarters, but the fourth quarter was where the excitement and intensity level went way up.
Thierno Sylla had two dunks and a 3-pointer in a span of 92 seconds, then Koat Thomas had two dunks 28 seconds apart to give Royal a 74-64 lead with 3:36 left.
Vertical coach Chandler Scott called timeout and his team responded.
Treymane Parker hit a three, then Williams had a steal, a highlight-reel reverse dunk and a three of his own that cut Royal’s lead to 76-72. Vertical forced turnovers on Royal’s next two possessions, the second one capped by a thunderous Parker dunk that tied the score at 76 with 1:05 left.
“Our effort got us back in the game,” Williams said. “We focused more and were much more locked in and that changed things.”
Royal called timeout and got the ball to Sylla for a dunk with 47 seconds left. Two free throws extended the lead to 80-76 but Williams hit two free throws to cut the lead to two with 27 seconds left.
Royal missed a free throw and Vertical had a chance.
Williams got by his defender and drove the lane but his attempt just rimmed out as he and the bench, wanted a foul on the play.
“We got what we wanted on that last play with Mikey coming off a screen and getting a shot,” Scott said. “Unfortunately the ball didn’t go in and we didn’t the call we’d hoped for, but that’s basketball.”
Williams led all scorers with 25 points while Parker added 24 for Vertical Academy while Royal Crown was led by Sylla with 19 and Mamborou Mara added 14 and Thomas chipped in with 12.
Three who made a difference
Mikey Williams, Vertical Academy: Scored 14 of his game-high 25 points in the fourth quarter, including three highlight-reel dunks.
Trey Parker, Vertical Academy: Finished with 24 points, 16 of those coming in the second half and his dunk with 1:05 left tied the game at 76
Thierno Sylla, Royal Crown: Scored 17 of his team-high 19 points in the second half and his dunk with 47 seconds left in the game gave his team a 78-76 lead.
WORTH MENTIONING
Charlotte Hornets star point guard LaMelo Ball was at Berry to watch the games. His 1 of 1 Academy defeated Christ School Episcopal in the game prior to the Vertical Academy game.
Vertical’s Treymane Parker scored the 1,000th point of his high school career when he made a free throw with 2:35 left in the second quarter.
While the first half lacked a lot of flow there was an interesting statistic that both teams had the exact same statistics from the free throw line (7 out of 11).
GAME SUMMARY
Royal Crown 19 14 23 24 --80
Vertical Academy 20 11 20 27 -- 78
Leading Scorers:
Royal Crown- Thierno Sylla 19, Mamborou Mara 14
Vertical- Mikey Williams 25, Treymane Parker 24
1 of 1 Invitational Scores
1 of 1 Academy Girls 54, Concord Academy 45: sophomore Ella Hobbs and senior Abi Svenson had 20 points each for 1 of 1, which LaMelo Ball’s new team.
Winston-Salem Christian 78, Cam-Amera Prep (Canada) 53
1 of 1 Academy 70, Christ Church Episcopal 59: senior guard Orlando Lovejoy (above) had 29 points for 1 of 1.
PHOTOS: Vertical Academy vs. Royal Crown School (Canada)
Saturday’s #BIG5 Top Performers
Kairah Dixon-Booker, North Mecklenburg girls: got her first career double-double (13 points, 10 rebounds) in a 67-42 win over Hopewell Saturday.
C9ris Britt, Gaston Day: game-high 20 points in a 67-58 win over SouthLake Christian.
Brandon Lavitt, Charlotte Latin: 20 points, 10 rebounds in a 64-54 win over Cannon School. Latin (19-2, 5-1 CISAA) will host first-place Providence Day (18-5, 5-1) Tuesday in a battle of top 10 Sweet 16 teams.
Madison Self, East Lincoln girls: had her 10th double-double of the season in a 57-36 win over St. Stephens: 13 points, 14 rebounds.
Samyha Suffren, Cannon School girls: game-high 20 points in a 61-35 win over Charlotte Latin. Cannon (16-6) won its 10th straight game.
Saturday’s Boys Basketball Boxscores
CHARLOTTE LATIN 64, CANNON SCHOOL 54
CS 20 10 10 14--54
CL 13 6 22 23--64
CS--Karon Boyd 13, Isaiah Henry 13, Austin Swartz 12, DJ Nix 11, Hagedorn 5
CL--Brandon Lavitt 20, Ned Hull 16, Sean Rose 14, Jaylen Jones 11, Pence 3
Records: Latin 19-2, 4-1 Cannon 10-13, 3-3
Game Notes: The Hawks were led by Brandon Lavitt 20 points/10 rebounds, Ned Hull 16 points/5 rebounds, Sean Rose 14 points/17 rebounds, and Jaylen Jones 11 points/3 assists. Next Tuesday, Feb. 1 the Hawks will host Providence Day and Cannon will be on the road against Charlotte Christian.
GASTON DAY 67, SOUTHLAKE CHRISTIAN 58
Gaston Day 21 15 14 17 67
SouthLake Christian 7 19 10 22 58
GASTON DAY 67 -- Chris Britt 20, Callum Richard 15, Colin Fayed 12, Evan Montanari 10, Chase Owens 6, Kurt Hunter 2, Ayron Jackson 2
SOUTHLAKE CHRISTIAN 58 -- Monroe 20, Watson 18, Stubbs 7, Allen 5, Handlogten 4, Simonson 2, Gazzaway 1, Mccullough 1
Gaston Day Record: 20-2
Next Game: Tuesday, 2/1 v Hickory Grove Christian 7pm
METROLINA CHRISTIAN 60, HICKORY GROVE 41
Metrolina Christian 15 11 14 20 = 60
Hickory Grove 7 12 7 15 = 41
METROLINA CHRISTIAN 60 -- Fisher-Davis 12, Houston 11, Knafelz 8, Maul 7, Harrist 6, Wilson Jr. 4, Crumbie 3, McIntyre 3, Clark 2, Deluca 2, Leatherwood 2
Notes: Metrolina Christian 13-13 (5-6) plays Northside Christian on Tuesday, February 1st at 7PM.
PORTER RIDGE 81, FOREST HILLS 48
Porter Ridge 25 20 25 11 -- 81
Forest Hills 10 11 14 13 -- 48
Porter Ridge 81--Greg Wenger 8, C.J Anthony 7, Kyler Harris 20, Jacob Anderson 13, Isaiah Williams 16, Tristan Stitt 5, Nathaniel Stout 5, Silas Medlin 2, Justin Shumaker 3, Jonah Karkow 2
Forest Hills 48—Jakaree Byrams 10, Tre Barbour 2, Dylan Horne 2, Jaquavion Smith 6, Gabe Crowder 18, Jalik Bryd 10
Saturday’s Girls Basketball Boxscores
CANNON SCHOOL 61, CHARLOTTE LATIN 35
Cannon 15 21 16 9 61
CLS 9 8 5 13 35
CANNON 61 -- Samyha Suffren 20 Lili Booker 19 Ashley Fowler 8 Khloe Thompson 5 Maya McCorkle 4 Amyia Brooks-Manning 3 Jamyrha Cherry 2
CHARLOTTE LATIN 35 -- Maddie Shannon 12 Mary Schleusner 9 Neely Hume 6 Alison Archibald 5 Evie McMahan 2 Catherine Felker 1
Cannon goes to 16-6 (6-0) and runs it win streak to 10. Next: 2/1 at CCHS
Latin (15-6) (3-3) Next: 2/1 vs PDS.
EAST BURKE 57, WEST LINCOLN 55
WL 14 19 17 5 -- 55
EB 24 18 13 2 -- 57
EAST BURKE 57 -- Aubree Grigg 9, Kassie Turner 12, Allly Moore 15. Taylor Bostain 9, Braelyn Stilwell 12
WEST LINCOLN 55 -- Chloe Norman 21, Farrah Richardson 7, Anna Bieberich 15, Brooke Beddingfied 6, Rae Watson 6
EAST LINCOLN 56, ST STEPHENS 36
SSHS: 8 6 6 16- 36
ELHS: 13 15 14 15- 57
SSHS: Kaylee Mcglamery 14, M. harris 8, K. Blevins 6, A. reid 3, E. Pilkenton 2, E. Sumpter 2
ELHS: Madison Self 13, Taliyah Thomas 13, Hailey McFadden 10, G. Overbay 9, R. Ross 5, A. Hege 4, G. Harpster 3
Noteables: Madison Self recorded her 10th double double of the year with 13 pts, 14 rebs and added 3 steals and 2 assists. Taliyah Thomas had 13 pts, 7 assists, and 5 steals
SSHS: (10-7, 4-3) Next Game vs North Lincoln 2/1/22
ELHS: (17-2, 9-0) Next Game @ Foard 2/1/22
NORTH MECKLENBURG 67, HOPEWELL 42
Hopewell: 10 9 16 7 --42
N.Meck: 27 13 11 16 --67
Hopewell: Daniels 12, Wall 11, Fullenwider 8, Carter 6, Cunningham 5
N.Meck: Nevaeh Farmer 21, Dearia Page 15, Kairah Dixon-Booker 13, Jocelyne Grier 12, Redfern 3, Dunn 2, Vaughn 1
N.Meck Overall:17-2, Conf. 7-1
Notable: Nevaeh Farmer 21pts, 4rebs, 6ast, 2stls, Dearia Page 15pts, 4rebs, 4ast, 2stls, Kairah Dixon-Booker 1st Career Dbl-Dbl 13pts, 10rebs, Jocelyne Grier 12pts, 5rebs, 3ast, 1stl
This story was originally published January 29, 2022 at 8:08 PM.
