HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL : Morse Repels Patriots’ Challenge

Patrick Henry approached its City Eastern League game against Morse with the idea that it had only an outside shot at beating the Tigers. So the Patriots put their biggest player, John Pike, outside the three-point line and told him to take his best shot.

Pike, who made a section-record nine three-pointers in a game earlier this season, made six of 10 three-point shots and scored a game-high 30 points. But Morse (3-1, 12-6) still proved Patrick Henry (0-4, 6-13) was nothing more than a longshot in this game with a 63-55 victory.

Pike and the Patriots showed promise early. The 6-foot-5 senior blocked two shots by Maurice Vickers and made two jump shots, the second a three-pointer, to give Patrick Henry a 6-2 lead two minutes into the game. But Morse, led by guard Dwayne Ludd’s 16 points, had control of the floor within minutes. A steal and a backboard-rattling dunk by Ludd made it 17-12, Tigers.

Morse led by as many as 15 points in the first half and held off a late Patriots run by keeping the key off limits. Pike hit his last three-pointer to cut the lead to four, 57-53, with 2:11 left. But after that, the Patriots turned the ball over on one possession, blew a rare layup opportunity on another and misfired on three three-point shots.

“We got the shots we tried to get at the end,” Patrick Henry Coach Fritz Ziegenfuss said. “We don’t get many offensive rebounds. We should have tried to follow and get a tip-in. But for us to go inside would be dreaming. We don’t have any power players.”

“We feel our strength is in the inside and we took away the inside,” said Morse Coach Ron Davis.

Cary Taylor and Edmond Jackson each had 10 points for Morse. Edwin Charles (12 points) and Jamaar Lavender combined for 19 points after they both sat out the first quarter. In a disciplinary move, Davis benched his scoring leader, Darnel Cherry, until 4:41 remained in the fourth quarter. Cherry, who has committed orally to San Diego State, didn’t score.

“I need to get more in intensity and defense out of him,” Davis said of Cherry. “I’m trying to find the kids that want to work the hardest. Our two best scorers don’t want to play defense.”