Manual Arts Rallies to Beat Kennedy, 68-63

Manual Arts High has proved that a team can win without a big man at center--provided there is balanced scoring and few turnovers. That was the formula it used to defeat Kennedy, 68-63, Saturday night in the championship game of the Hamilton tournament.

Using four guards and a forward, the Toilers (7-0) overcame an eight-point fourth-quarter deficit to earn the victory. In the final quarter, Manual Arts outscored Kennedy, 22-12.

“As a team our adrenaline went down after we had the lead,” said Kennedy’s Marcus Malone, who scored a game-high 26 points. “They’re quick, they play well as a team, and they think out there.”

The Golden Cougars (5-2) appeared to be in control when they opened a 12-point lead in the third quarter. Kennedy went ahead, 53-46, early in the fourth quarter on Malone’s second dunk of the game.

But after Eugene Miller hit a free throw to up Kennedy’s lead to 54-46, Manual Arts then connected on eight straight free throws while limiting Kennedy to two points. Davelle Walker made six and Walter McMahon sank two.

When Walker then scored on a layup, the game was tied at 56 and the Golden Cougars seemed to lose their poise as they turned the ball over several times.

They made 25 turnovers, while Manual Arts made only 10.

When Chris Small, who scored 16 points for the Toilers, connected on a 12-footer with 4 1/2 minutes left in the game, Manual Arts led, 58-56. It never trailed again.

Kennedy fell behind early, 7-2, but strong inside shooting by forward Leon Ware, who scored 21 points, helped give the Golden Cougars a 19-16 lead at the end of the first quarter.

The Golden Cougars got good inside play in the second quarter from Malone and Ware. When Malone scored his first dunk of the night, Kennedy went ahead, 30-22. But in the final two minutes of the first half, the Toilers outscored Kennedy, 5-2, and entered the third quarter down, 32-27.

Kennedy opened a 47-35 lead in the third quarter, even though 6-4 center Clarence Williams was sitting on the bench with four personal fouls. Malone scored eight points in the quarter and Ware scored six. At the end of the quarter, Ware had 13 points and Malone had 12.

Malone seemed to blame himself for the tough loss.

“I didn’t shoot enough,” he said. “We could have done things better out there like rebound and shoot better, but we didn’t.”