Del City boys finish fourth at McGuinness Classic
Del City’s Terry McMorris puts up a shot against Edmond Memorial in the third-place game at the Bishop McGuinness Classic on Jan. 9. (Photo by Jeff Harrison)
By Jeff Harrison
Midwest City Beacon
OKLAHOMA CITY – A date with top-ranked Edmond Memorial came with plenty of ups and downs for the Del City boys Saturday night in the Bishop McGuinness Classic.
Unfortunately for the Eagles, things ended on a down note in the third-place game.
No. 4-ranked Del City was brilliant in the first half. Keyondre Young scored 17 points in the second quarter and they led 33-28 at halftime.
Keyondre Young shoots over an Edmond Memorial defender Jan. 9 during a game at Bishop McGuinness High School. (Photo by Jeff Harrison)
The Eagles went cold in the third quarter only to resurge in the fourth. Javeon McCalister sank a pair of free throws to tie the game at 55-55 with 2:07 to play. But a couple of costly turnovers allowed the Bulldogs to regain the lead and escape with a 59-57 win.
“We didn’t defend like we needed to in the third quarter and they made a run and outscored us. I thought that was the turning point in the game,” said coach Lenny Hatchett. “We were in the game and had a chance to win but we need to figure out how to play four quarters.”
Young finished with 25 points and was named to the all-tournament team. McCalister scored 16 in the loss.
Sean Padulla led the Bulldogs with 24 points.
Del City split its first two games of the Bishop McGuinness Classic. They beat Deer Creek 49-44 in the first round on Thursday and fell to Choctaw 51-42 in Friday’s semifinals.
In the first round, Del City used a strong fourth quarter to overtake the Antlers 49-44. The Eagles had three players in double figures scoring. Young led with 14 points, followed by Terry McMorris with 13 and McCalister with 12 points.
The Eagles struggled to find consistency Friday night against Choctaw in the semifinals. The Eagles scored only four points the first quarter and two in the third, before exploding for 22 in the final period. But it wasn’t enough to catch the Yellowjackets in a 51-42 loss.
Young led with 15 points. Sean Franklin and LJ Gourley both scored 13 for Choctaw.
The loss sent the Eagles to the third-place match against Memorial which was upset by Norman North in the other semifinal match.
Del City traveled to El Reno on Tuesday (after press time) and will be home Friday against the OKC Storm.
