5-3A BOYS

Mayflower lands deciding blow late

— Mayflower absorbed Fountain Lake’s best shot and found a way to fight back.

Fountain Lake took its first lead of the second half with an 11-0 run, scoring the first eight points of the fourth quarter, but Mayflower responded with an 11-0 run of its own to rally for a 51-47 victory in a 5-3A Conference game Friday night at Bass Gymnasium.

“They’re a hard team to play against,” Mayflower Coach Brent Stallings said. “They do such a good job of controlling tempo. You just have to beat them at their game because you can’t make them play yours. They always seem to make that timely three that keeps them in the ballgame, and we had some kids come down and make some timely shots.”

Drew Duncan led Mayflower (15-5, 10-4) with 16points and knocked down key jumpers the entire game. His biggest was a three-pointer with 2 1/2 minutes left, capping the late run and pushing the lead to 46-38.

“That three is one of those things where you’re thinking, ‘No, no, no,’ because it’s a little too soon,” Stallings said. “But any three he takes, if he has his feet set and can see the basket, it’s a good shot.”

Andrew Freeman led Fountain Lake (10-10, 8-6) with a game-high 24 points, making 8 of 12 from the field. He was 6 of 8 while scoring 18points in the second half.

“When you’re undersized and undermanned, you have to fight harder than the next team,” Fountain Lake Coach Chris Meseke said. “That’s what keeps us in games, and that’s what has won us some games on the year.”

Sam Crutchfield added 13 points for Fountain Lake, and his buzzer-beating three pointer to end the third period helped feed Fountain Lake’s run to start the fourth.

Dane Richardson finished with 13 points for the Eagles. J.P. Perry added 10.

Sports, Pages 23 on 02/09/2013

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