LITTLE ROCK — Host team
advances
with ease
Tha View Patriots Elite, the host team and Arkansas state AAU champions, qualified for the 15-Under national championship bracket with a 70-34 pool-play victory over the Tampa Bay Warriors on Thursday.
All 11 members of the Patriots Elite team scored, including a game-high 18 points from Mahlon Martin.
“Mahlon is a solid ballplayer,” Coach Lee Pippins said. “He didn’t have a great shooting night on Wednesday, so it was nice to see him bounce back and recover from that bad game. I think the main thing he brings to the team is his poise.”
Mahlon, who will be a sophomore at Episcopal Collegiate this fall, scored 12 of his 18 points in the second half. Allie Freeman added nine points.
The Arkansas team led 30-20 at the half and allowed the Florida team to score four points in the third quarter and 14 in the second half.
The victory came a day after a 68-47 loss to the Boston Amateur Basketball Club, the defending tournament champion.
“We just sat down with some of our more experienced players and told them they needed to be leaders,” Pippins said. “They’re a good group of kids and they’ve been good leaders off the court, but we needed them to be leaders on the court, too.”
The Patriots Elite plays the Houston Defenders in the championship bracket today at 10:25 a.m. at Philander Smith College.
Late arrivals
Team THAD, a Memphisbased Division I team, started Thursday’s pool-play game with the Arkansas Blue Chips at Pulaski Academy with only five players and an assistant coach.
“We got delayed at our hotel,” said THAD Coach Ernest Palmer, who along with five other players stepped into the gymnasium two minutes into the game. “Our uniforms weren’t dry and plus, we’re just not that familiar with the Little Rock area.”
The Memphis team’s five starters arrived only a couple minutes before Palmer’s group, helping the team to avoid a forfeit.
Team THAD won the game 79-64 behind a 26-point effort from forward Terrence Davis.
Team THAD won despite a 36-point effort from the Bluechips’ Keith Hays.
2nd-half meltdown
The Arkansas Mustangs squandered an 18-point firsthalf lead and lost to Memphis Love 73-62 to finish 0-3 in Division II pool-play action.
The Mustangs led 36-22 at the half but scored only two of the next 22 points to allow the Tennessee team to take control.
“We just made too many mistakes, too many turnovers,” Mustangs Coach Otis Johnson said. “We missed 14 free throws and we got beat by nine points. That says a lot.”
The Mustangs jumped ahead of Memphis Love 19-9 after the first quarter and led 32-14 in the second quarter before things soured on the Arkansas team.
It didn’t help the Mustangs’ cause when 6-1 forward Kyran Thomas had to sit out most of the second half with a hip injury. Thomas, who will be a sophomore at Watson Chapel this fall, scored all 17 of his points in the first half.
“It’s been bothering him lately,” Johnson said. “And it’s a shame too because he was having a great game.”
Leonard Robinson, a 5-10 guard from Watson Chapel, also scored 17 points and had eight rebounds. J’Breun Steen, a 5-9 guard from White Hall, added 14 points and 14 rebounds for the Mustangs.
Earlier in the day, the Mustangs had suffered a 68-65 loss to the Arkansas Rim Rockers.
Sports, Pages 22 on 07/13/2012