Baylor’s Leo Born (33) is stripped of the ball by Howard’s Keante Cameron, top left, as Ray Jarvis, below, awaits a charge Thursday at Baylor.From beginning to end, Baylor never seemed comfortably ahead of Howard in the boys’ high school basketball game Thursday at Baylor. But the main thing for the Red Raiders was that they never trailed.
Once they scored, an early tie was the only thing preventing them from leading throughout their 46-40 victory over the Hustlin’ Tigers.
Baylor’s largest lead was 12 points. The tie was at 11.
“We didn’t want to get into an up-and-down tempo game with them,” Baylor coach Austin Clark said. “I’m really proud of our kids.”
One key component for the Red Raiders was their zone defense. By the Tigers’ account they were limited to 30 field-goal attempts, and nearly 10 of those were misses from 3-point distance after repeated offensive rebounds in the final minute when they basically ran out the clock for their opponent.
“We wanted to try and make them shoot outside,” Clark said. “They’ve got a strong inside game and they have a good rebounding team, as Howard always does. This is not you father’s 2-3 zone. We have some quickness and some angles we play.”
Howard coach Walter McGary credited the low number of shots to poor decision-making, particularly with forcing passes. The head Tiger didn’t mince words afterward.
“Our guards were terrible,” McGary said. “They almost seemed like they were lackadaisical and didn’t care. Then again, that comes up under coaching. That’s my fault. Maybe I’ll have to now call some underclassmen up. We’ve got some seniors that can’t seem to handle the ball or do what they’re asked to do.”
The other key component for Baylor (9-5) was David Clendenen’s work in the pivot. Clark said an offensive overhaul was made Tuesday before the Red Raiders played at Brentwood Academy on Wednesday. They’re 2-0 with the new system, and Clendenen’s “breakout game,” his coach called it, included 21 points.
“We simplified the motion,” Clark said. “Sometimes we as coaches out-think ourselves. Our big people were moving too much. I think they were tiring out more than they were getting the ball.”
Once Howard (9-4) made the score 11-11, Baylor went on an 11-0 run and led by at least six points the rest of the first half.
Reggie Upshaw’s layup off Gavin Gibson’s feed from out of bounds underneath put the Red Raiders ahead 35-23 late in the third quarter. The Tigers managed to trim it to 41-38 on Barry Griffin’s tip with 2:45 to play, but they got no closer.
Reserve Anthony Smith led the Tigers with 12 points and made their only two 3-point goals. Demontay Suttles added 11 points.
Contact Kelley Smiddie at ksmiddie@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6653.