Thomas Jefferson takes 1A league lead with win over Cherryville
Phillip Gardner
CHERRYVILLE — A 21-point Cherryville win during the Bud Black/Dennis Tate Holiday Classic meant nothing by the time the Ironmen faced Thomas Jefferson for a second time Tuesday at Nixon Gym.
Especially with the shots not falling as they did before.
The Ironmen shot a frigid 26.5 percent and scored a season-low point total in a 70-66 home loss to Thomas Jefferson in a game for first place in the Southern Piedmont 1A Conference.
"I thought we had open looks. We just didn't knock them down," Cherryville coach Scott Harrill said.
Thomas Jefferson (11-4, 6-0) claimed sole possession of first place in the SPC as the first half of the conference season came to end, leaving Cherryville (14-2, 5-1) a game back.
Poor shooting was a theme throughout the game for Cherryville, which started 2-for-17 in the opening quarter and wound up 18-for-68 from the field, including 7-for-30 from 3-point range.
Early on, Cherryville's frequent trips to the foul line helped offset the scoring struggles elsewhere as the Ironmen went 15-for-22 from the stripe in the first half. Soon, though, free throw opportunities diminished while the shooting remained ice cold.
The Ironmen wound up 13.9 points below their scoring average and two below the previous low.
"I felt like the pace of the game was fine for us, but you've just got to hit shots and we didn't," Harrill said.
Still, Cherryville led most of the game until Thomas Jefferson made a fourth-quarter run to go ahead 65-55 with 2:17 left. Cherryville came roaring back and made it a two-point game only 42 seconds later. D.J. Cunningham and Kenny Poston were critical during that stretch as Cunningham made a four-point play when he was intentionally fouled on a fast-break layup that he made and Poston converted on a putback and a 3-pointer. The latter cut Cherryville's gap to 66-64 with 1:23 left.
Cunningham's layup tied it at 66 with 41 seconds left but Efrim Borders drove for a layup on the other end, Cherryville turned it over on the next possession and the Gryphons made 2 of 4 free throws from there to seal it.
Cherryville had won the previous meeting 93-72, prompting Thomas Jefferson to play its matchup zone the entire game this time after mixing in some man-to-man in the December game.
"They just shot the ball incredibly good," Thomas Jefferson coach Kenneth Hines III said. "They were shooting all over everywhere. (Nos.) 23, 21, 10, 12. They just didn't miss many shots."
Cherryville watched video of that game twice in preparation for the rematch.
"It wasn't anything we hadn't seen and it wasn't anything we didn't work on in practice," Harrill said.
Cunningham finished with 28 points — his ninth game reaching 20 points — to lead Cherryville. Poston was the other Ironman in double figures with 12 points.
Mason Fenner scored 11 of his 21 points in the crucial fourth quarter to lead Thomas Jefferson. Borders finished with 14 points, Chris Mintz 13 and Nick Mintz 11 for the Gryphons.
Cherryville hosts North Gaston on Wednesday in a non-conference game before starting the second half of the league schedule Friday at home against Lincoln Charter.
"We've just got to give effort every game," Harrill said. "You can't just think you show up and play and I felt that's what some of our guys did tonight."
Thomas Jefferson 39, Cherryville 38 — Cherryville missed a potential game-winning shot in the waning seconds and just missed out on its first conference win of the season.
Cita Banks scored 11 and Molly Whitworth added 10 points for Cherryville (4-12, 0-6) while Thomas Jefferson (3-3 SPC) got 11 points from Autumn Edwards and 10 from Alyssa Edwards.