MOUNT VERNON, N.Y. For the first half, it seemed as though the New Rochelle Huguenots could knock off the mighty Mount Vernon Knights.
But the third quarter changed all that.
The Knights held the Huguenots (12-6) to just one basket in a span of about four minutes and ran away with a 79-52 win.
That third quarter really kind of hurt us, said New Rochelle coach Bill Murphy. A lot of turnovers just led to baskets. It was really unfortunate. We would have been in the game at the end if it wasnt for that third quarter.
Mount Vernon, a team accustomed to building double digit leads early in games, only led 18-15 after the first quarter and 33-29 at halftime. New Rochelle led 13-12 during the first quarter and 23-20 in the second but the second half was all Knights.
Mount Vernon used a full court press and a full court trap to force several turnovers. The Knights outscored the Huguenots 19-8 in the third quarter.
Kirkland Ottey, who co-led the Huguenots with 12 points, said the team tried to come out with energy in the second half but was not ready for the press.
We tried to make substitutions. We tried to stop the bleeding. We tried to pass it out, Ottey said. It just didnt work out.
Murphy said there was little he could do as the turnovers piled up.
You could go out there and call timeout and think that youre going to do something and then realize that, you know what, its really about just executing and being cool with the ball, Murphy said. You think you have some power but obviously thats not the case.
Malik Burts also scored 12 points for New Rochelle. Qwadere Lovell and Jerrel Marshall co-led Mount Vernon with 20 points apiece and Isaiah Cousins added 15.
Ottey said his team can take lessons away from Fridays tale of two halves.
We realized that we could play with them and we know that later on we might see them on the road, Ottey said. I guess we could say that were going to (use it as) a learning experience. Go to practice. Work hard.
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