Mt Vernon Rebounds but now Faces Rice
After suffering their first lost of the season Mt. Vernon sought to recover by taking it out on 'Iolani, the host team on Friday in Hawaii's Iolani Tournament. They did so in emphatic fashion as, except for a few bumps, the Mt. Vernon Knights easily defeated 'Iolani Raiders 67 – 55. They now face the undefeated Rice Raiders on Saturday.
The Raiders were down by 20 points to the Knights in the fourth quarter but until Berton Wong nailed a 3-pointer, which sparked an 11 – 0 run that was capped off with sophomore Jarrett Arakawa's short turnaround jumper in the lane made it 61-52 with 1:14 remaining.
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Mt. Vernon regained their composure however, when Kevin Jones scored a lay-up followed by 6'3" junior guard Sherrod Wright's monster dunk, which secured the victory for Mt. Vernon.
Wright was the games high scorer with 26 points while junior forward Pablo Warner, led 'Iolani with 25 points.
The real test will be on Saturday night, however, when the Knights who are now 5 – 1, and currently ranked #4 by NYCHoops, face off against The #2 ranked Rice Raiders of Manhattan, NY, as opposed to the Iolani Raiders of Hawaii. Rice is not only undefeated but defeated the Mason County Royals. The Royals, which was the team that handed Mt. Vernon their first loss on Friday, loss to the Raider on Friday with a come from behind win, 59 -48.
The Rice Raiders were down 40-33 to the Royals early in the fourth period but were led by UConn-bound Kemba Walker with a game-high 21 points and a key basket by Dorvell Carter to give the Raiders the lead 49 – 47 with 3 minutes left. That lay-up sparked a 10 – 0 run by Rice capped by 10 for 10 free throw shooting in the final minutes.
Xavier-bound shooting guard Chris Fouch added 15 points and four rebounds for the Raiders, and Durand Scott contributed 12 points and eight rebounds. Trevor Setty led the Royals with 18 points.
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