By PAUL GOTHAM
IRONDEQUOIT, N.Y. — The NE Douglass boys’ basketball program had a bounce-back effort on Sunday afternoon, and one of the Panthers reached a career milestone in doing so.
Coming off a heart-breaking loss in overtime to RCAC rival East on Thursday, the Panthers wanted to reassert themselves.
They didn’t waste any time.
Four seconds into the contest, senior Tre’vion Miller drew a charge in the lane. It was the first of eight turnovers forced by the Panthers in the first stanza – a period in which they allowed just two field goals.
“That’s who we are,” sixth-year head coach Kyle Crandall said after the Panthers downed Global Concepts (VI), 92-61 in the final game of the 2018 Bishop Kearney Christmas Showcase. “We do our best to not give up easy points.”
NE Douglass raced to a double-digit lead less than four minutes into the game and pushed their advantage to 20 after eight minutes.
“I’m proud of them because after an emotional loss like that, you wonder how they’re going to come back out,” Crandall said referring to the 81-73 setback – a game in which the Panthers led by nine late in the third quarter. “We said as a team that one of our goals was to come out and have a statement game. Let the Greater-Rochester area know that we are a team that believes we should be reckoned with.”
Lamar Lovelace goes coast-to-coast for the Panthers pic.twitter.com/w24U9MUjnx
— John Mitchell Likanje Junior (@jml5798) December 16, 2018
They took the lead and never trailed. Lamar Lovelace corralled a rebound and went the length of the floor for a layup and a double-digit lead at 15-4. Lovelace’s bucket was part of 12 straight points.
Jiahmere Mitchell with the crossover and 3. Panthers up 11-4 with 5:17 remaining in the 1st quarter. @jiahmere_m4 pic.twitter.com/coPdy8ek2z
— John Mitchell Likanje Junior (@jml5798) December 16, 2018
A Nicolas Jeanty 3-pointer from the top of the key made it a 29-9 game at the end of the first.
“We really emphasize defense of course, but I felt like offensively we clicked on a lot of cylinders today,” Crandall stated. “I thought our offensive shot selection was very, very strong.”
NE Douglass forced five more turnovers in the second quarter on their way to a 46-28 advantage heading into the locker room.
Jiahmere Mitchell scored 10 of his game-high 31 points in the third quarter as the lead swelled to 34. The senior guard eclipsed the career 1,000-point mark with his final bucket of the day.
“It’s one goal, but it’s not the main goal, though,” Mitchell said of the accomplishment. “The main goal? We’ll see in March. That’s the main goal.”
After missing on three different free throw attempts, Mitchell ran down the carom from his final charity toss and sliced into the lane for a floater and the milestone.
Jiahmere Mitchell(@jiahmere_m4) gets to 1000 career points! Congrats on this great accomplishment! pic.twitter.com/J8rPR4ZTfe
— Rick Roche (@RRoche72) December 16, 2018
“My teammates said they wanted a bucket,” Mitchell commented with a smile. “I saw the lane and went.”
Mitchell averaged 22.9 points per game a year ago. He poured in 30 or more on four different occasions including a career-high 39 in the season opener.
On Sunday, he joined former Panther Torry Wright as the only players in program history to score 1,000 or more points.
“Jiahmere is a kid who means so much to our program,” Crandall noted. “He’s given so much over the last three years. As a three-year varsity starter, it’s great to see him achieve what he has because he’s brought an awful lot to our program. I’m just really proud to be his coach.”
Jiahmere Mitchell(@jiahmere_m4) gets to 1000 career points on a floater in the lane pic.twitter.com/oEzJNkZ8yE
— John Mitchell Likanje Junior (@jml5798) December 16, 2018
Mitchell also handed out a game-high eight assists.
NE Douglass improved to 4-1 with the win. They opened last week ranked No. 16 NYSSWA Class A.
“My kids were hungry to get back out on the court,” Crandall noted. “That’s one of the nice things about basketball. Usually it’s only two, three, four days away before you get to play again after a tough loss. Coming out and doing that today was great.”
The Panthers produced points on 14 of 20 possessions in the third quarter. One of those six without a bucket was the result of a basket interference call.
Lovelace added 21 points. Adonis Flagler grabbed a game-high eight rebounds and scored four points. Jeanty connected three times behind the 3-point arc and scored 11. Miller chipped in with seven points.
Jonathan Rowley (3), Maurice Glenn (7), Casey Diometre (6), and Gerald Peavy (4) rounded out the scoring for NE Douglass.
Andre Goldsmith paced Global Concepts with 21 points. David Stroud had 20, and Shawnery Jones added 13.
Global Concepts fell to the host Bishop Kearney on Saturday, 77-65.
“We saw them play really tight with Bishop Kearney last night,” Crandall said. “It was a one-possession game with two, two and half minutes to go. They played them tight right down to the wire. This was a team that we absolute could not sleep on. You can’t sleep on anybody.”
NE Douglass plays at World of Inquiry on Tuesday night. A 6 PM tipoff is scheduled.
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