For Providence-St. Mel, playing in a shootout such as the MLK Dream Classic was an honor.
“For what Dr. (Martin Luther) King did for us, it’s a real privilege to play in something named after him,” the Knights’ Tevin King said. “He’s a great role model and everything we do is influenced by him.”
King and fellow senior Bernard Lilly Jr. led the way as Providence-St. Mel knocked off T.F. North 48-35 at Young Sunday afternoon.
What started as a game without much physicality changed quickly in the second quarter.
“We weren’t expecting them to be physical at all,” King said. “We know what type of team we are and we just had to adjust and not let anything get to us.”
A relatively quiet first half ended with St. Mel 21-15. The teams combined to shoot 13-of-29 and commit 12 total turnovers.
Both teams then got off to hot starts in the second half. Four quick points by King helped to give the Knights (12-6) a 25-17 lead.
Providence-St. Mel ended the third quarter on a 6-0 run and continued its defensive intensity, not allowing the Meteors to score for the first 4:42 of the final period.
“Their bigs are their strength,” King said. “We knew if we could shut them down, our guards would be able to get the better of them, so that’s what we ended up doing. Our guards are really good.”
But the Knights’ offense cooled off in the fourth quarter as well, as they didn’t score for the first four minutes of the period. Then the scoring picked up, with the teams combining for 25 points in the last 3:18.
King scored 18 for Providence-St. Mel, while Lilly Jr. added 12. Jaylon Kyles scored 10 points and Vance Jophnson added nine for the Meteors (7-9).
