Calvary boys stay hot, dominate grace
Feb. 27—CRESAPTOWN — In one buzzer-beating, third-quarter sequence, Calvary's Colby Mallery encapsulated everything his head coach has wanted from the Eagles this season.
The senior attacked the hoop and scored, leaving what appeared to be no time for Grace to get a shot off with just seconds left. But Mallery played until the whistle, jumping in front of the ensuing inbounds pass and scoring again as the horn sounded. The gym erupted.
Sure, the bucket wasn't really a factor in the result — Calvary would go on to crush Grace, 61-45 — but it was indicative of the energy the Eagles have shown during their hot streak. With the Mason-Dixon Christian Conference tournament less than a week away, they're finally playing their best basketball.
"We talked after the first quarter about getting some defense turned into offense, and being a little more aggressive," Eagles head coach Scott Mallery said. "We went after it, got some steals, and had a really good second quarter and it continued after that.
"That's the kind of momentum we want to see. Not just get back, get in our defense, wait till they get up the floor. See if they're paying attention on the other side of the court and if not, take advantage. It was the perfect time to do something like that. That really helped the momentum."
After suffering a humbling defeat to Shalom on Feb. 4, part of an 0-7 start, Calvary has since won 5 of 6 games. The Eagles finished out the regular season against the MDCC's top team Cumberland Valley on Friday.
One of those triumphs came when Calvary faced Grace on Feb. 26, as the squad won 52-43 in Hagerstown.
The turning point of the rematch came at the start of the second quarter when Preston Leumengi — who accounted for all 12 of Grace's first-quarter scores — was forced out of the game after picking up two fouls.
The Eagles capitalized in his absence with a 7-0 run, and they never relinquished the lead. When Leumengi did return, Calvary switched defenses to slow the talented forward: He scored zero points the rest of the way.
"He was out, that really started the run," Mallery said. "Then, when he came back in we went to a box-and-1. It's not something we do very often. ... Jackson (Dayton) played really good defense when we played box-and-1, stayed out of foul trouble. We're a different team when he can stay on the court."
Ian Klick led the Knights with 21 points, but, with the exception of Leumengi, no other member of the supporting class eclipsed five points.
For the Eagles, Ashby Whitacre and Colby Mallery carried the load, combining for 39 points and 17 of Calvary's 26 field goals.
Whitacre was the leading scorer with 22 points on 10 field goals and 1 of 2 foul shooting, with six rebounds, two assists and two steals. Mallery finished with 17 points on seven field goals and went 2 for 2 from the charity stripe — he grabbed six boards, had a team-best five steals and three assists.
The duo's best quarter came after halftime, at which point Calvary led 29-21, when Mallery and Whitacre delivered 11 and nine points, respectively. With the seniors going off, the Eagles were able to grow their edge to an insurmountable 54-32 margin after Mallery's last-second makes.
Mallery's emergence as a weapon on offense has taken the pressure off Whitacre, who didn't get much help during the first half of the season.
"The past two games, we've been getting really good scoring out of Colby Mallery and Ashby Whitacre," coach Mallery said. "At the beginning of the year, it was kind of on Ashby's shoulders. Now we have another scorer, plus Jackson and Noah Robinette can provide for us offensively."
Dayton also finished in double-figures with 10 points and five rebounds. Robinette was the leading rebounder (nine) and assister (five), adding six points, a steal and a block.
Though the lead was never in jeopardy, there was some nervousness in the air for a time in the fourth quarter, where Grace outscored Calvary by six. But the Eagles' edge was too high to overcome, and they held on for a dominating 16-point triumph.
Now, Calvary turns to the MDCC tournament, where they'll likely hit the road to face Heritage as the No. 5 seed on Tuesday.
"We've been losing to Heritage in the past," Mallery said. "But as long as our offense keeps going, our offense moves and does what it should, it's a winnable game. ... If they want to play more ball, we've got to come out on Tuesday."
Alex Rychwalski is a sportswriter at the Cumberland Times-News. Follow him on Twitter @arychwal.
