Friday’s boys basketball rewind: Myers Park takes down the nation’s No. 4 ranked team

Myers Park High started the 2023-24 boys basketball season ranked among the nation’s top 10 teams.

Friday night, playing in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic in Kill Devil Hills, NC, the Mustangs showed why.

Playing for the first time this season with top 100 recruit Sir Mohammed, a Notre Dame signee, the Mustangs, No. 1 in The Observer’s Sweet 16 regional poll, rallied from nine points down in the second half to beat national No. 4 John Marshall (VA), 64-58.

John Marshall (1-1) was 28-0 last season when it won its second straight Virginia 2A title. This year’s team features four players 6-foot-8 or taller.

“I’m really proud of them,” Mustangs coach Scott Taylor said. “I started thinking ahead about what I wanted to talk about after the game. At the end of the third quarter, I was frustrated and disappointed. We hadn’t played our best. But I was excited because everybody was finally together, and when all 14 are together we’re pretty dang good.”

Mohammed (11 points, 10 rebounds) got into foul trouble in the third quarter and had to sit some, but when he came back, Myers Park clamped down on defense. John Marshall didn’t score in the fourth quarter, missing all 10 shots. Myers Park — which got 19 points, nine rebounds from junior Sadiq White — made 4-of-9, including the biggest of the game.

Finally, Tennessee signee Bishop Boswell (20 points, nine rebounds, eight assists) hit a 3-point shot with about 90 seconds left to give his team 60-58 lead. The shot came off an offensive rebound. Myers Park hit four free throws for the final margin.

“We hung in there,” Taylor said of his team. “I’m really, really proud that they figured it out and they showed a lot of character. They’ve proven the last two games (in wins over John Marshall and NC power Chambers) that they don’t get rattled, and I think a lot of that has to do with how many (big games) they’ve played in.”

▪ The Mustangs will play another national power, Raleigh’s Word of God, Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

Friday’s #BIG5 Top Performers

Bishop Boswell, Myers Park: The Tennessee signee hit a go-ahead and eventual game-winning 3-point shot in a 64-58 win over national No. 4 John Marshall (VA). Myers Park won 64-58 and Boswell finished with 20 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.

Grant Hamilton, Weddington: Hamilton scored nine of his 18 points in the fourth quarter of a 54-45 win over AC Reynolds. Weddington improved to 4-0.

Landon Lyerly, Lincolnton: Lyerly had 16 points, 15 rebounds in a 81-71 win over East Lincoln. Lincolnton broke an 11-game losing streak to its county rival.

Trent Steinour, Lake Norman: In a 69-59 win over North Lincoln, the 6-foot-10 junior center had 13 points, 15 rebounds, five blocks and a steal.

Kam Taylor, Carmel Christian: The Olympic High transfer finished with 21 points, seven rebounds, three blocks in 67-63 come-from-behind win over Calvary Day School at the Tyler Lewis Hoopfest at Forsyth Country Day.

Friday’s box scores

▪ Observer Sweet 16 rankings are included

NO. 1 MYERS PARK 64, JOHN MARSHALL (VA) 58

MYERS PARK 64 — Sadiq White 17, Jacob Paraison 11, Bishop Boswell 20, King5, Sir Mohammed 11

JOHN MARSHALL 58 — Damon Thompson Jr. 15, Bailey 6, Aiden Argabright 21, Jackson 7, Allmond 6, Moore 3

NO. 3 CENTRAL CABARRUS 104, EAST ROWAN 37

EAST ROWAN 10 7 10 10 — 37

CENTRAL CABARRUS 29 35 24 16 — 104

EAST ROWAN 37 — Jones 7, Wemboula 13, McIntyre 3, Butler 4, Osterhus 6, Chesney 2, Reid 2

CENTRAL CABARRUS 104 – Chase Daniel 14, Carson Daniel 10, DJ Kent 22, Noah Edmisten 4, Joshua Dalton 14, Emari Russell 16, Jake Baker 4, Cayden Smith 11, LarQuise Burse-Jones 7, Chinua Ezeigbo 2, Camden Lowry

Notable: Central forced 33 turnovers and had 37 assists. Central Cabarrus has won 34 straight games. Central Cabarrus will play Saturday vs West Cabarrus at 8:30pm in the CabCo Tipoff at Cox Mill HS

Records: Central Cabarrus 2-0 / 1-0 – East Rowan 0-4 / 0-1

NO. 4 LAKE NORMAN 69, NORTH LINCOLN 59

Lake Norman 13 16 25 15 — 69

North Lincoln 17 13 14 15 — 59

LAKE NORMAN 69 — Will Googins 3, Josh Yates 13, Santana Lynch 10, Tre McKinnon 15, Nick Arnold 5, Grant Dryden 10, Trent Steinour 13

NORTH LINCOLN 59 — Kidd 3, Engstrand 10, Heavner 6, Chandler 6, Viverette 2, Suttles 5, Linberger 4, Karr 10, Sanders 12

Notable; Lake Norman junior Trent Steinour: 13 points, 15 rebounds, 5 blocks 1 steal; senior Santana Lynch 10 points, eight rebounds, and four blocks.

NO. 7 NORTHSIDE CHRISTIAN 74, GASTON DAY 49

Gaston Day 13 14 13 9 — 49

Northside Christian 22 20 17 15 — 74

GASTON DAY 49 — Griffen Simpson 13, Lucas Kimrey 8, DeShawn Coulter 7, Braylen Todd 6, Gavin Fields 6

NO. 15 PROVIDENCE DAY 59, RALEIGH RAVENSCROFT 48

Ravenscroft 12 9 9 18 — 48

Providence Day 13 15 20 11 — 59

PROVIDENCE DAY 59 — Nick Hailey 19, Jonah Lawrence 12

Notable: PDS is now 5-2, play at Durham Academy tomorrow

ARDREY KELL 75, COMENIUS 39

Ardrey Kell 19 23 23 10 — 75

Comenius 9 7 11 12 — 39

ARDREY KELL 75 — Delani Hammonds 14, Owen Wacker 11, Caden Caskey 10, Ethan Tharakan 9, Bryce Thomas 8, Braden Suggs 7, Matthew Craft 6, Preston Griffiths 6, Dylan Morrison 2, Roger You 2

COMENIUS 39 — Donnie 15, Mark 7, Aj 4, Park 4, Josiah 4, Noah 2, Jordan 3

Records: Ardrey Kell 2-3

CARMEL CHRISTIAN 67, CALVARY DAY SCHOOL 63

CARMEL 67 — Chandler Kennedy 19, Bryce Slay 12, Kam Taylor 21, Colin Peck 6, Cody Peck 11

CALVARY DAY 63 — Tolbert 7, Dane Cassanda 14, Calvert 7, Barnett 4, Keegan 9, Jordan Richardson 12

CHARLOTTE LATIN 56, DURHAM ACADEMY 46

Charlotte Latin 14 15 12 15 — 56

Durham Academy 11 4 18 13 — 46

CHARLOTTE LATIN 56 — James Jones 16, Jordan Pence 12, Ivory 9, Levy 8, Miles 3, King 3, Dauska 3, Edwards 2

DURHAM ACADEMY 46 — Jeffries 9, Bullock 7, Dorsette 7, Burrus 6, Ruth 6, Frasher 4, Abdelbarr 3, Wilcox 2

Records: Latin 2-3, Durham 4-3

HARDING 48, PROVIDENCE 45

Harding 17 7 11 13 — 48

Providence 5 12 16 12 — 45

HARDING 48 — Chase Bryson 18, Jenkins 8, Caldwell 8

PROVIDENCE 45 — Singletary 9, Van Rensailer 8, Gaither 7

Records: Harding 2-2, Providence 1-3

HOUGH 48, NORTH GASTON 46

Hough 12 11 18 7 - 48

North Gaston 7 10 11 18 - 46

HOUGH 48 — Cole Galombeck 13, Cole Skovira 13, Moore 8, Otto 7, Spear 5, Thompson 2

NORTH GASTON 46 — Carothers 12, Lattimore 11, Howard 11

LINCOLNTON 81, EAST LINCOLN 71

Lincolnton 22 13 26 20 — 81

East Lincoln 13 19 26 13 — 71

LINCOLNTON 81 — Junior “LJ” Smith 31, Landen Lyerly 16, Tyler McClain 11, Cross Arias 11

East Lincoln 71 — Davis Hill 14, Riley Shropshire 2, Christian Atkins 7, Hampton Good 2, Houston Hartsell 11, Landon Aungst 12, Jaxon Dollar 2, Jackson Fannon 21

Records: East Lincoln 1-1; Lincolnton 3-0

Notable: With the win the Wolves break an 11-game win streak by the Mustangs.....The Mustangs will host the Stuart Cramer Storm on Tuesday night, while Lincolnton will host Avery County.

ROCKY RIVER 82, BERRY 73

Rocky River 15 16 26 25 — 82

Berry 24 16 14 19 — 73

ROCKY RIVER 82 — Johnson 29, Walton, 4, Brantley 4, Houston 20, Ross17, Noble 2, Carr 2, Little 2

BERRY 73 — Kinard 14, Ellis 11, williams 4, Warday 24, Joyner 5, Mayweather 2, Chester 13

Shamari Johnson, Rocky Rier

WEDDINGTON 54, AC REYNOLDS 45

AC Reynolds 6 12 22 5 — 45

Weddington 15 3 17 19 — 54

AC Reynolds 45 — Declan Brown - 11, Dickey - 9, Clayton - 9, Gillilland - 8, Johnson - 6, Hare - 2

Weddington 54 — Grant Hamilton - 18, KJ Younger – 16, Cook – 8, Zepp - 5, Ellyson – 4, Powers - 3

Notable: Grant Hamilton posted nine of his game high 18 points in the fourth quarter and Aiden Cook dropped five of his eight points, including a go-ahead 3-pointer late in the 4th quarter as the Warriors moved to 4-0 on the season. Weddington will play its second game in the Coaches vs. Cancer event at TC Robertson High School Saturday night against Thomas Jefferson at 4:30pm.

Record: Weddington 4-0, AC Reynolds 1-2

WESTMINSTER CATAWBA 74, METROLINA CHRISTIAN 30

Westminster Catawba 25 9 21 19 — 74

Metrolina Christian 12 4 6 8 — 30

WESTMINSTER 74 — C. Glass 2, Stephen Quinn 16, K. Addie 5, Nikayle Hodge 12, Brycen Redmon 12, M.J. Littlejohn 12, Justin Rushin 15

METROLINA CHRISTIAN 30 — Torrez 1, DeAngelo Walker 10, Rutherford 4, Nick Crews 11, Wilson 2, Monpows 2

Notable; Westminster Catawba Improves to 4-2 on the season, 1-1 in the MAC Conference. Next game is Tuesday, December 5 at Southlake Christian.

WEST ROWAN 75, LAKE NORMAN CHARTER 71

LNC 18 9 19 25 — 71

West Rowan 19 13 22 22 — 75

LAKE NORMAN CHARTER 71 — Braden Wilkie 18, Braylon Irelan 12, Major Leak 10, Collin McConneyhead 10, Langston Holder 6, Owen Kuhn 6, Drew Johsnon 4, Isiaah Smith 4, Tripp Augier 2

WEST ROWAN 75 — K. Norman 20, W. Givens 17, B. Graham 8

Notable: LNC will host East Rowan next Tuesday at home at 730pm.

Thursday’s box scores

NO. 10 COX MILL 93, HOUGH 61

Hough 14 13 22 12 — 61

Cox Mill 14 26 27 16 — 93

HOUGH 61 — Galombeck 14, Otto 9, Slusher 8, Spear 8

COX MILL 93 — Smith 31, Ross 12, Pack 9, Dunn 9, Miller 8, Brown 8

CONCORD ACADEMY 65, SOUTHLAKE CHRISTIAN 53

SouthLake 10 13 19 13 — 53

Concord Academy 15 16 20 16 — 65

SOUTHAKE CHRISTIAN 53 — Pops 7, Mash 6, Dewy 11, Watson 19

CONCORD ACADEMY 65 — Ian Howard 14, Sherrod McCormick 5, Lincoln Raper 4, Gray Madeira 2, Jake Benham 2, Sean Birmingham 30, Andre Rudy 2, Alek Kornacki 6

Notable: Sean Birmingham 6 3’s, 30p 10r 4b, Ian Howard 14p 6r

SOUTH MECKLENBURG 56, INDEPENDENCE 54

South Meck 16 17 12 11 — 56

Independence 11 13 15 15 — 54

SOUTH MECKLENBURG 56 — P.Moye 17, A.Skelton 14, B.Houpt 9, M.Howard 9

INDEPENDENCE 54 — T.Alberga 24, K.Jasper 10, Y. Thompson 9

Records: South Meck 4-0, Independence 2-2