Arby's Classic Results - Day 1 (including Gate City)
- Thread starter pizzzzza
- Start date
Game 5, End 1st: North Mecklenburg 23, Gate City 16. Mad Max (AKA North Mecklenburg's Tristan Maxwell) has has been the star so far
Game 5, 1:56 left in 1st: North Mecklenburg 18, Gate City 14
Game 5, 4:11 left in 1st: North Mecklenburg 9, Gate City 8.
Game 5, 1:56 left in 1st: North Mecklenburg 18, Gate City 14
Game 5, 4:11 left in 1st: North Mecklenburg 9, Gate City 8.
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According to ESPN TriCities the stations broadcasting the Arby's Classic are: 94.3 Kingsport, 97.9 Bristol, & 97.7 Johnson City.
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Allen Greene — TriCitiesSports.com
1 / 1 Gate City’s Mac McClung (0) goes to the basket in front of North Mecklenburg’s Yancey Hairston, left, and Tristan Maxwell (12) during Tuesday night’s Arby’s Classic matchup at Viking Hall in Bristol, Tenn.
SPORTS LIVE
Vikings subdue Blue Devils inside packed Viking Hall
BY STEVE WILMOTH, TRICITIESSPORTS.COM • TODAY AT 12:29 AM
BRISTOL, Tenn. — North Mecklenburg never gave an overflow crowd at Viking Hall a chance to get behind local favorite Gate City on the opening day of the 2017 Arby’s Classic.
Using their superior size to dominate the glass, the Vikings mostly denied the high-flying Blue Devils’ transition game in an 80-64 victory.
Despite playing without vaunted senior point guard Vaud Worthy and starting two sophomores and a freshman, North Mecklenburg led wire to wire and mostly by double digits from late in the second quarter on.
The Vikings advanced to face Landstown on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. The team from Virginia Beach rallied from a 20-point first-half deficit to defeat Tennessee High in the nightcap, 56-42. Gate City plays Tennessee High at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday.
The contest was officially labeled as a sellout hours before the tipoff. Most came to see Georgetown signee Mac McClung of Gate City.
“There was a lot of hype around this game, but from a personal aspect, it was a lot of false advertising,” said a dejected McClung. “As a high division point guard, I didn’t control the game and I take the blame on that. I’ve got to set the tone, and that’s on me.”
The Vikings controlled the glass 40-18, including 14 offensive rebounds they parlayed into 21 second- chance points.
“They more than doubled us in rebounding. They push the basketball in transition and they guard you and that’s the game of basketball,” said Gate City coach Scott Vermillion. “They got a lot of transition pushes and things at the basket.”
Despite poor shooting, Gate City (4-1) trailed by just five, 31-26, late in the second quarter before the Vikings closed the half on an 11-5 run for a 42-31 advantage at intermission.
North Mecklenburg (11-1) led 55-39 when Gate City came storming back. A long Zac Ervin 3-pointer started the rally that included a McClung steal, dunk and three-point play. A pair of Jon Compton free throws had the Blue Devils to within six at 61-55.
But the Vikings’ Jae’Lyn Withers, a 6-foot-9 junior, drew a foul on a putback attempt, made the first of two free throws then sank a dagger 3 after another offensive rebound by freshman Chris Ford.
North Mecklenburg was up by a dozen, 68-56, when McClung and Yancey Hairston exchanged words with 6:18 left in the game. Hairston was eventually charged with a technical, McClung made two of the four free throws and then drilled a 3 to get the Devils back within seven, 68-61.
Vikings sophomore Tristan Maxwell, son of former NBA great Vernon Maxwell, answered by drilling a heavily contested 3 from the left corner.
“The size disadvantage that we had was a factor,” Vermillion said. “And North Mecklenburg hit big shots. They hit that 3 with a hand in their face. So hats off to those guys. That’s a really good team. Those guys are not being recruited Division I for no reason.
“But I thought our kids fought hard. They were resilient. They could have rolled over when we got down 16.”
Ervin led all scorers with 30 points, including five 3-pointers, but the junior was disappointed with his five rebounds.
“We had entirely too many turnovers and got outrebounded badly, and that’s on me,” he said. “I’m the biggest guy on the team and I’ve got to take more of that load. I did a poor job of that tonight.”
McClung finished with 26 points despite being harassed continually by the 6-4 Hairston and a collapsing defense.
“I’ve played guys like him (Hairston) all the time,” McClung noted. “It wasn’t him bothering me. It was the three guys they had waiting on me at the cuts. I’ve got to make better decisions and I missed a lot of shots.”
Vikings coach Duane Lewis was impressed with the Gate City duo.
“Those two guys can really play. They are as good as it gets,” Lewis said. “Gate City, Charlotte, New York City, those guys can play anywhere.
“And they compete and play hard. They are intense and get after it, and you appreciate players like that.”
Ford logged a double-double of 19 points and 12 rebounds, in addition to four assists. Withers finished with 14 points and eight boards.
