MLK SHOWCASE

Episcopal freshmen pave way

With its senior leader saddled with foul trouble, Episcopal Collegiate got a huge boost from two freshmen to hold off Charleston on Saturday.

Ninth-grader Treylon Payne finished with a team-high 15 points and classmate Khalen Robinson added 12 as the Wildcats pulled away in the fourth quarter to beat the Tigers 54-44 in the Martin Luther King Showcase at Little Rock Christian.

Senior center Gavin Hawkins added 8 points, 16 rebounds and 3 blocks for Episcopal (11-7).

"Those guys were big for us," Episcopal Collegiate Coach Brandon Friedel said. "Everybody stepped up when we needed them to. So it was just a good team win for us."

Episcopal led most of the way but played a large portion of the game without leading scorer Kamron Brasfield, who picked up two quick fouls in the first quarter. Brasfield sat out the second quarter and was quiet in the third but found his rhythm in the fourth, where he scored 10 of his 14 points.

Senior guard Brandon Fenner scored a game-high 22 points for Charleston (10-6), which took a 32-31 lead before being outscored 23-12 in the final quarter. Senior guard Chase Ewing had 12 points.

"We were out of sync the entire first half," Charleston Coach B.J. Ross said. "We had to really grind to get a lead in the third, but we just didn't have enough to hold on."

The Tigers trailed 23-20 at halftime, but back-to-back jumpers from Payne and a floater from Robinson pushed Episcopal's lead to 30-20 to open the third quarter, but a lay-up from senior guard Michael Green started 12-1 run for Charleston.

Brasfield, however, opened the fourth quarter with consecutive baskets to start a 9-0 surge for the Wildcats, who went 9 of 13 at the free-throw line over the final six minutes to pull away.

CHARLESTON (44)

J. Rowland 0 0-0 0, Hampton 0 1-2 1, Fenner 7 6-8 22, Green 3 0-0 6, B. Rowland 0 0-0 0, Caudle 0 0-0 0, Ewing 1 9-10 12, Keener 1 1-2 3. Totals 12 17-22 44

EPISCOPAL COLLEGIATE (54)

Payne 3 8-10 15, Robinson 4 4-7 12, Brasfield 4 6-8 14, Braunfisch 0 0-0 0, Gordon 0 0-0, Grawer 2 1-2 3, Hawkins 3 2-2 8, Pitts 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 21-29 54

Charleston (10-6) 10 10 12 12 -- 44

Episcopal Collegiate (11-7) 14 9 8 23 -- 54

Three-point goals -- Charleston 3 (Fenner 2, Ewing 1); Episcopal Collegiate 1 (Payne); Team fouls -- Charleston 20, Episcopal Collegiate 21.

BAPTIST PREP 66,

EAST POINSETT COUNTY 64

Isaac McBride scored 22 points and made 3 three-pointers in the host Eagles' victory over the Warriors.

Dylan Hogan finished with 17 points and also made 3 three-pointers. Luke Vaden added 12 points for the Eagles.

Xzavier Reed led East Poinsett County with a game-high 26 points. J'sebian Brown had 19 points for the Warriors.

Sports on 01/15/2017

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