AM
Boothe review
James Monroe (48) Vs. Mercer Christian (63)
Jan 13, 2015
By BRIAN WOODSON
Bluefield Daily Telegraph
PRINCETON — Trailing by five points at the break, Mercer Christian boys basketball coach Darrell Presley laid out a plan.
“I said, ‘if we can rebound, eliminate the turnovers and stick a few shots, we can take care of business,’ and I was proud of them,” Presley said. “I think the defensive effort and eliminating the turnovers was the big key and sticking some shots.”
The Cavaliers did all of that, as Mercer Christian outscored the Mavericks 39-19 over the final 16 minutes, led by talented junior Daniel Boothe, who finished with 20 points and six assists.
“He is an amazing player,” Presley said. “It is really a great team, but he does have a special talent for sure, I am very proud of him.
“I have got some seniors out here and they are leaders, but Daniel is a leader too. We like for everybody to step up and be a leader. We talk to each other, we do a lot of communication work on defense, and Daniel does a great job and he is a leader.”
Mercer Christian, which trailed 29-24 at the break, finished off the Mavericks 63-48 on Tuesday, with Caleb Janning adding 18 points — including four 3s — while J.J. Easter had 10 points, 2 3s and six assists. The Cavaliers finished with eight 3s, with four coming in the third period.
“We enjoy playing good competition and they are a well-coached team, they are a good team,” said Presley, whose Cavaliers are 3-1 against WVSSAC-sanctioned teams, avenging a 60-57 loss to the Mavericks on Dec. 16. “I was proud of our guys in the second half, I thought we came out and played some good defense and made some shots. I was just really proud of the whole team effort.
The Cavaliers, who now played in the West Virginia Christian Education Association (WVCEA) have won seven straight to improve to 13-3 on the season.
“MCA is a tough team,” James Monroe head coach Johnathan McPherson said. “I think they will go far in their postseason in the Christian schools conference.”
James Monroe (3-7), which snapped a six-game losing skid with a win over River View on Saturday, traded the lead seven times in the opening half with the Cavaliers, building a 29-24 lead at the break.
All that changed coming out of the locker room.
“They kind of got on a roll, they hit a few (3s) to start the game off and then I thought we adjusted defensively,” McPherson said. “Honestly we just looked asleep in the second half. Credit to them for their effort.”
Presley laid out the plan, and it certainly worked, with the Cavaliers going on a 9-0 run coming out of the locker room to take a 33-29 lead, led by a pair of 3s from Janning, both created by penetration and passes from Boothe.
James Monroe was able to tie the score twice before an offensive putback by Boothe, and 3s from Janning and Chandler Scott pushed Mercer Christian up 44-36.
“They definitely jumped out on us in the third quarter,” McPherson said. “That has just kind of been the thing all year. We get down on ourselves and it’s not one or two things that go wrong, it is multiple, four or five in a row.
“They jumped on us in that second half. Mercer Christian deserved to win with the effort they had in that second half.”
James Monroe still trailed just 46-42 going to the final period, but the Mavericks went cold, making just 1-of-17 shot attempts against a newly-installed defense, while the Cavaliers built the margin to as much as 17.
“We did a little bit of a zone trap in the first half, but they were getting some layups off of it,” Presley said. “That was a new defense that we just put in with that diamond press. Our man to man is our bread and butter and they did a good job with it.”
Mercer Christian made 6-of-8 free throws in the fourth quarter, with five different players scoring in what was a17-6 advantage for the Cavaliers. Easter was able to control the ball for the Cavaliers down the stretch, similar, in Presley’s eyes, to what Phil Ford once did for Dean Smith at North Carolina all those years ago.
“He is awesome, when we went to the four corners down the stretch, we put the ball in his hands,” Presley said. “I call him the Phil Ford when that happens, he probably really doesn’t know Phil Ford, but he did a good job, I was really proud of them.”
Tyler Moore led the Mavericks with 13 points — including two of James Monroe’s four 3s — before leaving with five fouls, while Dakota Copenhaver added 10.
“There was a lot of shots we took that normally could go in, but we just weren’t patient looking for the best shot,” McPherson said. “We were just taking decent looks or good looks, but it is a process and we are trying to improve. We are almost halfway through the season, but our goal is to be better by the end to be ready for postseason.”
James Monroe returns to the court next Tuesday at Bluefield.
“It is kind of good to have a break so we can work on some things,” McPherson said. “Obviously that second half showed we have some works to do. “That is part of it is seeing what you are doing wrong and trying to fix it.”
Mercer Christian will visit Victory Baptist on Friday night.
bwoodson@bdtonline.com
/ Twitter @bdtwoodson

at Mercer Christian Academy
JAMES MONROE (3-7)
Caleb Spencer 2 3-4 8, Dakota Copenhaver 4 2-4 10, Connor Booth 2 2-2 6, Landon Shires 3 0-0 6, Tyler Moore 4 3-4 13, Lance Wilson 2 0-0 5, Tyler Sams 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 10-14 48.
MERCER CHRISTIAN (13-3)
J.J. Easter 3 2-4 10, Caleb Janning 7 0-1 18, Samuel Stephens 1 0-0 2, Luke Maranto 3 0-0 6, Daniel Boothe 5 9-12 20, Xander Bailey 0 0-0 0, Ryan Shrewsbury 0 0-0 0, Luke Shrewsbury 0 0-0 0, Chandler Scott 2 2-2 7. Totals 21 13-19 63.
James Monroe................16 13 13 6 — 48
Mercer Christian.............17 7 22 17 — 63
3-point goals: JM 4 (Moore 2, Spencer 1, Wilson 1); MC 8 (Janning 4, Easter 2, Boothe 1, Scott 1). Total fouls: JM 17; MC 13. Fouled out: Moore. JV—JM won.
Nightly Roundup
Game Scoreboard
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 OT SCORE
James Monroe 16 13 13 6 0 48
Mercer Christian 17 7 22 17 0 63
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