Memorial victorious over Moore

Drew Tennial’s 16 points on 55 percent shooting from the field led 6A no. 11 Memorial to a 62-42 victory over Moore on Saturday night in its second matchup of the season against the Lions. The victory allows the Bulldogs to advance to the second round of the OSSAA 6A Boys’ Regional Tournament, where they will play no. 5 Midwest City on Monday at 7 p.m. Tennial’s first of his 16 points came in the opening minute of the game with a mid-range jumper. Cameron Graves found Tennial again in the corner for a 3-pointer a minute later. Later in the first quarter, Tennial returned the favor by passing to Graves on a fast-break for a lay-up opportunity. Graves flew by a Lion defender and finished the bucket, allowing the Bulldogs to get out to a quick, 9-3 lead. In the closing minute of the first quarter, Graves kicked the ball out to Tre Walton in the corner after Walton drew his defender into a Jacob Thionnet screen. Walton hit the 3-pointer and gave the Bulldogs a 13-5 lead after one quarter. The first Memorial score of the second quarter came when Parker Clarida passed the ball from the corner to the near block for Thionnet to finish a basket high off the glass. Memorial entered a three-quarter court press after this score. C.J. Campbell made the steal at half-court, pulled up at the top of the key, and dished the ball to a cutting Tennial. Tennial finished at the rim to extend the Bulldog lead to 12 midway through the second quarter. “We feed off of (Tennial’s) energy,” said coach Shane Cowherd. Moore momentarily entered a full-court press with 4:25 left in the second quarter, but would retire it soon after Memorial had little trouble crossing half court. Dylan Youngblood hit a 3-pointer to send the Bulldogs into halftime with a 28-11 lead. Moore’s second-half comeback attempt began with a 3-pointer on its first possession. On the following possessions, the Lions began passing the ball at a high volume and running set offenses to avoid rushed shots and missed scoring opportunities. Tennial fouled a Moore shooter with three minutes left in the third quarter. The shooter hit the shot and completed the and-one free throw to cut Memorial’s lead to 13. Moore answered Memorial’s following score and a goaltending violation against Tennial brought the end-of-third quarter score to 40-29, Bulldogs. The third quarter got away from us,” Cowherd said. “We got a little stagnant.” Clarida opened the fourth quarter with a pair of free throws after a Moore shooting foul against him. The Lions answered with a 3 pointer. The Memorial lead was cut to 10. Cowherd cited a lack of focus and intensity as the major components of Moore’s run. “We’ve gotta show more urgency, a little bit more tenacity and be able to take success,” Cowherd said. Memorial, determined to keep Moore at bay, entered a brief, 9-4 run. Still at risk of a Lion comeback, finished a big dunk to put the game just out of reach for Moore. Tennial fouled out in the closing minute of the game as the Bulldogs completed the victory. Cowherd said the key to the victory was limiting dribble penetration from the Lions’ offense. “What they do really well is penetrate and kick to shooters, get to the rim and create opportunities for fouls,” Cowherd said. “For the most part, outside of the third quarter, we did that.” In its next regional matchup against Midwest City, Tennial believes defense will be highly important for Memorial. “We play really good defense and we just need to always be on the same page and keep talking,” Tennial said. “We really need to be able to play four quarters of very focused basketball,” Cowherd said. “That’s gonna be pretty big key for us on Monday.”

THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Edmond Memorial High School Athletics

MEMORIAL VICTORIOUS OVER MOORE

BRYCE MCKINNIS

The Edmond Sun | 2/27/2018

PHOTO CREDIT: Drew Harmon