by Seneca Contomanolis
DigitalSports Richmond
Mills Godwin had a hard time getting their offense going Wednesday night against St. Christopher’s.
So the Eagles’ Fletcher Lumpkin decided he would carry the load.
Lumpkin scored 23 points as Mills Godwin hung on to defeat the Saints 60-56 in the quarterfinals of the Rebel Invitational at Mills Godwin.
“He is our go-to guy,” Mills Godwin coach Hunter Thomas said. “[Kefentse] Budd wasn’t having a good game for us so he took over.”
St. Christopher’s Charlie McCann did everything he could do for the Saints, scoring 28 points including four 3-pointers.
Leading 54-45 midway through the fourth quarter it looked like the Eagles might win comfortably, but an 11-0 run by the Saints that ended with back-to-back layups by McCann put St. Christopher’s up 56-54 with 1:42 remaining.
After Mills Godwin was unable to score on their next possession Saints coach Chris Brown called a timeout to setup a play with one minute left. But on the inbounds play Patrick Oley stole the pass and found Ben Crouch for an open layup to tie the score.
The Saints, with a chance to take back the lead, then fouled Lumpkin as he went up for a rebound off a St. Christopher’s miss. He sunk both free throws and then iced the game with two more with 2.5 seconds left.
“We were up-and-down,” Thomas said. “We had moments when we looked really good. And then other times we couldn’t stop No. 11 [McCann].”
McCann and Lumpkin scored a majority of their points in the second quarter with 12 each. Mills Godwin led 31-27 at the half and then 42-40 going into the fourth. The Eagles scored half of their points from the free-throw line finishing 30-41. Matt Mattioli added 11 points for Mills Godwin while Oley had eight.
“We are really young,” Thomas said. “These guys haven’t played together much. They still have a lot to learn about our motion offense.”
Mills Godwin now faces Benedictine in the semifinals on Friday at 8:30 at Douglas Freeman. The Cadets beat Varina 84-36 in the first quarterfinal.
St. Christopher’s 10 17 13 16 – 56
Mills Godwin 10 21 11 18 – 60
St. Christopher’s (0-1): Mitchell 9, McCann 28, Vozenilek 5, Priddy 5, Hart 7, Erickson 2. Totals: 15 11-14 56. 3-point goals: McCann 4, Vozenilek.
Mills Godwin (1-0): Budd 6, Mattioli 11, Oley 8, Parker 5, Caine 1, Crouch 2, Lumpkin 23, McColley 4. Totals: 12 30-41 60. 3-point goals: Lumpkin 2.
Processing your request, Please wait....
