McDonald, Smitherman push Chargers to second straight Sweet Pea tourney title
The Sweet Pea Invitational championship featured the (9-8) Newcastle Racers, unranked in class 4A and the undefeated Heritage Hall Chargers who rank first in 4A. The first half was low-scoring but highly competitive, partially due to the Chargers being without…
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Continue ReadingThe Sweet Pea Invitational championship featured the (9-8) Newcastle Racers, unranked in class 4A and the undefeated Heritage Hall Chargers who rank first in 4A.
The first half was low-scoring but highly competitive, partially due to the Chargers being without their ace, Trey Alexander. Newcastle came out confident and Heritage Hall played like they were unsure. Despite the slow start, the Chargers picked up the tempo in the second half, defeating Newcastle 50-39.
Heritage has senior point-forward Will McDonald and junior power forward Phillip Smitherman to thank for this victory. The combination of those two on both the offensive and defensive end of the floor made the biggest difference in this game and ultimately pushed the Chargers into yet another tournament title.
In the first half, McDonald was serviceable but definitely didn’t take a lead role. Nobody did for the Chargers and that’s why they were tied up with the Racers with only 21 points in the first half.
That was until the second half started. McDonald enforced his will, controlling the Chargers offense while Smitherman cleaned up the misses, pulling down offensive rebounds and either getting the second chance points or generating new possessions.
The third quarter was low scoring, but that didn’t matter. The Chargers only scored 10 points, eight of which came from McDonald, but Newcastle only scored five. It was a defensive clinic where the Chargers rarely allowed the Racers a chance at scoring the ball.
The fourth quarter was where they ultimately sucked the life out of the Newcastle gym and their home crowd the started the championship game quite rowdy. Sixteen of Heritage Hall’s 19 points came from McDonald, who scored nine and Smitherman who scored seven points.
Heritage Hall won the Newcastle Sweet Pea Tournament for the second-straight season and improved to (18-0) without two key starters, Trey Alexander and Mike McLaughlin. McDonald picked up the slack with 21 points and Smitherman earned himself another double-double, scoring 14 points and pulling down 12 rebounds, 6 of which were offensive. Jack Spanier also added eight points, six of which came from three.