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Charleston shakes off three-game Riverbend skid to Covington, Tenn., 73-55
NEW MADRID, Mo -- For the last three years the Covington, Tenn., Chargers have had Charleston's number when they faced each other in the Riverbend Classic.
On Friday, the Bluejays reversed that trend using 25 points from junior Mardareyon Clark to hand the Chargers a 73-55 loss to close out the opening night of the annual shootout at New Madrid County Central High School.
"I was pleased," Charleston head coach Danny Farmer said. "We have some things to work on, which I knew we would have, but we hung in there. We didn't panic at times and we handled their press well for our first game, shooting a lot of layups like we wanted to shoot."
Neither team could pull away in the first two-and-a-half quarters, swapping leads regularly but never taking more than a two possession advantage.
Things started to tilt in Charleston favor, however, in the final minutes of the third quarter shortly after a Covington basket from Maurice Taylor made it 37-37.
A 11-2 run closing out the third put momentum -- and the game -- firmly in the Bluejays' control as they took their largest lead up to that point, entering the fourth quarter up 48-39.
"We rebounded better and started pushing it up the court a lot too," Farmer said of the second half. "I think (Covington) tired a little bit. We're accustomed to playing like that all the time."
Charleston's lead hovered around the 10-point mark most of the final quarter and the Chargers were unable to string together several successful possessions.
Leading 60-50 with three minutes to play, Charleston scored nine straight points with an empathic dunk from Clark giving them their biggest advantage of the night, 69-50, with 1:18 to play, essentially icing the game.
"We had beaten them three straight years and they came out and wanted it more," Covington head coach Charles Mitchell. "They just out-hustled us down the floor. You have to give it to them, they simply wanted it more. They were diving and making shots. We weren't ourselves. We're just young. We only bring two kids back (from last year)."
Clark's 25 points were easily a game-high despite fighting through foul trouble that forced him to sit parts of the second and third quarters. He shot 11 of 16 (69 percent) from the floor while grabbing 12 rebounds and contributing a pair of assists.
Delontre Fisher, a 6-5 sophomore, had 15 points on 6 of 7 (86 percent) shooting and four rebounds while Demarcus Sharp and Jaquavis Rodgers added 10 points each to the cause to give the Bluejays four players in double-digits.
Sharp collected 12 rebounds to tie Clark for the team lead.
Charleston shot 32 of 57 (56 percent) from the floor and missed all six of their 3-point attempts.
"I expect to see that from (Clark), Farmer said. "He's a much improved player. My big guy off the bench Fisher came in and played a good game for us too. We have a ways to go, but (I like where we're at). We're a more experienced team, a taller team. I'm more pleased than ever we played a quick team and was able to stick with them."
Covington was led by Taylor's 20 points, including three of his team's six 3-pointers. Quentin Booker finished with 11 points, including three 3-pointers.
| Charleston | 14 | 17 | 17 | 25 | - | 73 |
| Covington | 13 | 15 | 11 | 16 | - | 55 |
CHARLESTON (73) -- Jaquavis Rodgers 10, Latrell Porter 3, Demarcus Sharp 10, Mardareyon Clark 25, Jeremy Tucker 6, Delontre Fisher 15, Ke'Sean Griffin 4. FG 32, FT 9-14, F 9. (#-pointers: none. Fouled out: none.)
COVINGTON (55) -- Maurice Taylor 20, John Mason 4, Darrius White 7, Marquez Washington 2, Kevin Burnette 7, Ladarius Griggs 4, Quentin Booker 11. FG 21, FT 7-9, F 17. (3-pointers: Taylor 3, Booker 3. Fouled out: none.)