Photos by Abby Diggs and Carly Williamson
MARYVILLE – Showdown Saturday has arrived!
Maryville took care of business Friday night against Piedmont in a 98-71 victory, setting up a midseason Collegiate Conference of the South undefeated clash for first place. The Scots host Belhaven at 4 p.m. Saturday in a battle of sizzling-hot teams.
"Now we move our sights to a big game Saturday," Maryville head coach
Raul Placeres said. "It will be a fun one. Both teams come in on a nine-game winning streak, 4-0 in the league, and have played in back-to-back championship games.
"It doesn't get better than that, so we will see what happens."
As Coach P said, Maryville and Belhaven are each riding nine-game winning streaks, which is good for the fifth-longest active streaks in the country. The Blazers prevailed 87-74 Friday night at Asbury, boosting their record to 14-3 overall and 4-0 in the league. Maryville is 13-4 and 4-0.
Jan. 11 in Jackson Postponed
These teams were scheduled to open CCS play back on Jan. 11 in Jackson, but snow postponed that meeting until Feb. 21. It went from the CCS regular season opener to the regular season finale, making Saturday's contest a chance for either team to get a leg up in the conference race.
Maryville leads the series against Belhaven 5-1, having defeated the Blazers in both CCS tournament championship games to date. The Scots won 84-74 in the inaugural 2023 title game and prevailed 97-75 in the 2024 final. Both of those games were in Cooper Athletic Center, where the Scots are 4-0 against the Blazers. They are 1-1 in Jackson, falling 78-76 in last year's league opener.
Since then, Maryville has reeled off 17 straight wins against CCS opponents.
Friday night against Piedmont,
Reed Kemp scored 23 points and
Kyle Cloninger added a season-high 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting. The first-year guard helped pick up the slack from the loss of
Jackson Garner, who is sidelined for the rest of the season with an injury.
"Kyle is very capable," Placeres said. "What a game for the freshman and his first new step, new role, right? 18 points, five assists, three rebounds with no turnovers. He is very efficient. He took great shots. He plays great defense."
Career-High for Chase
Chase Morgan added 16 points and a career-high 14 rebounds for his third double-double of the campaign.
Javi Rosell contributed a career-high nine assists to go with seven points and seven boards. And
Jaylon Green pitched in eight assists in 23 minutes – both career-high figures.
"Chase is who he is," Placeres said. "He's as good as has ever come through here, and I hope he continues to grow and mature and get better. And proud of a combined 17 assists by my point guards."
Placeres highlighted the play of senior guard
Malachi Chipp, who scored eight points thanks to a pair of 3-pointers.
"He is an exceptional young man and a great teammate," Placeres said of the Georgia native. "He may need to step in now with Jackson's absence and contribute from time to time because he is a particularly good shooter. I was happy to see him make his first 3-pointer today. Got in there cold – that is a tough shot to make. Got in there and he had no fear, which I loved. He let it fly."
Maryville broke out to an 11-2 lead on the Lions, capped by consecutive 3-pointers from Rosell and Kemp. Piedmont pulled within 21-18 with 11:56 left in the half, but then the Scots pushed the lead to 33-23 on Green's fastbreak layup.
It was still 38-30 approaching the 5-minute mark when the Scots closed the half on a 17-6 run that sent both teams to the locker rooms facing a 55-36 score line. The Lions never pulled closer than 17 points the rest of the way.
Kemp, Scots Start Fast
Kemp scored 20 of his 23 in the first half to keep the visitors on the back foot.
"We talked about it, to start the game, just our sense of urgency needed to be there," Placeres said. "I told the guys that we needed to jump on them early and let them feel our heat defensively. And we did that. We got some good shots.
"They cut it to 21-18 and then somebody hit a big shot (Kemp) and settled us down again, and then we made a little bit of a push. After that, it was a really good lead through the entire game.
"Our role players were good today as well, sharing the basketball. We had 15 threes, 28 assists on 38 made field goals and we were plus-16 on the boards. You're going to win a lot of games that way. Really happy with the overall performance."
The Scots made it five in a row over Piedmont and lead 47-10 in the all-time series, which dates to February 2000. For Placeres, it is coaching win No. 92 as he closes in on a .700 winning percentage in his sixth season guiding Maryville.
