Yorktown spoils Alex home opener
Nov. 30—ALEXANDRIA — Marty Carroll's Alexandria boys basketball team will have an opportunity to do something he said has been a problem in recent years, namely to respond to adversity.
Tuesday, adversity came in the form of a talented and hot-shooting Tigers team from Yorktown.
A.J. Dunn scored 14 of his game-high 19 points and Kieran Tewari scored 13 of his 16 points in the first half, and Yorktown outscored Alexandria 34-15 in the third quarter on its way to an 87-49 win at The Jungle on Tuesday evening.
Carroll wants to see how his team, winners of its first two outings following a tough 6-17 season a year ago, bounces back from a drubbing in its home opener.
"Obviously, they've had their eyes open, and now we'll see how they respond," he said. "Honestly, the last couple years, the most disappointing thing was how we responded to (adversity)."
The running clock was triggered late in the fourth quarter when Matt Moulton converted a three-point drive to the basket for a 73-37 lead, and Yorktown took a 75-39 advantage into the fourth quarter.
Yorktown outscored Alexandria (2-1) 34-15 in the third period and committed just one turnover to Alexandria's six. In one stretch, three successive Alex turnovers were converted in rapid succession into nine points — 3-point baskets by Jacob Grim and Tewari and an and-one for Dunn and the halftime lead had exploded to 54-27.
The 1-2 punch of Tewari and Dunn put Alexandria in a deep early hole.
Tewari was 3-of-5 from 3-point range in the first half, and Yorktown connected a total of five times from behind the arc before intermission.
The 3-point shooting only got better for Yorktown as six different players accounted for 12 made long-range baskets, and a total of 11 players scored.
As one-sided as the numbers on the scoreboard and in the stat sheet were in the favor of Yorktown, Carroll saw positives. He felt the play of Carson Cuneo — 13 points, six rebounds and four assists — and Owen Harpe — nine points — was solid.
"I thought Carson and Owen played really well," Carroll said. "Braxton (Pratt) didn't score like he has, but (Yorktown) has seen two games of ours, too."
Yorktown (1-0) was a sectional champion last season, and the Alexandria coach felt this would be a tough assignment for his Tigers.
"They're a lot better than we are, obviously," Carroll said. "They were playing their first game, and they were ready to play. They have a sectional winning team and probably should have won the regional. They're a group that made a good run last year, and we knew we were going to have our hands full.
"We're not the only team they're going to beat badly this year."
Carson Hall and Gabe McGuire scored seven points each off Carroll's bench while Pratt added six points and two steals.
Alexandria will return to action Saturday when it travels to Greentown to play the Eastern Comets.
The Yorktown junior varsity team handed Alexandria a 61-36 defeat with Mason Fuller leading the hometown Tigers with 13 points.
Contact Rob Hunt at rob.hunt@heraldbulletin.com or 765-640-4886.
