Lawless leads Mikes past Frazier
CARMICHAELS — Brandon Lawless scored 25 points and led Carmichaels to its third straight victory to start the season, as the Mikes prevailed, 61-40, over Frazier Tuesday night in non-section boys’ basketball action.
After winning the Jefferson-Morgan Tip-off Tournament over the weekend, the Mikes (3-0) started out of the gates quickly by scoring the first, four baskets of the contest.
“Our defense has set the tone in the beginning of games,” Carmichaels coach Don Williams said. “We challenge everything and that helps us out with our transition game.”
The Commodores trailed 22-9 at the end of opening quarter, and had no answer for the athletic, six-foot-three Lawless, who scored 14 points in the first period.
“Brandon played a heck of a game,” Williams said. “He has some size to him and he can move. He’s athletic and is just a tall kid to defend. We definitely try to move him around and get him the right match-up. He has grown a lot from last year and he now has experience on the varsity level.”
In the second stanza, the Mikes increased their lead to 31-9 just minutes into the quarter.
Frazier responded with an 11-8 spree to close out the first half and trimmed the deficit to 39-20 at halftime.
“Carmichaels came out ready to play and we came out sluggish,” Frazier coach Ed Keebler said. “They scored right off the bat, and we just didn’t get in any rhythm in that first half. We got in a hole and just hung our heads. Hopefully we can learn something from this and get ready for the next game.”
The Commodores’ comeback fell short in the third quarter, as the Mikes outscored the visitors by a 13-4 margin. The Mikes’ Sean Smoggie tallied two treys and a free throw in the frame.
After Lawless opened the fourth with consecutive baskets, Frazier countered with eight straight points. The Mikes followed that up with five points in a row, and the Commodores ended the game with eight, unanswered points.
Smoggie finished his night with 14 points, while Corey Fuller chipped in with eight points for Carmichaels.
“We go eight-deep and we just put pressure on you,” Williams said. “We like to run them in and then let them run the floor. We are very unselfish with the basketball and they look for the open man inside.”
Roger Cline (12) and Charles Manack (11) were the leading scorers for Frazier.
“We never found our rhythm offensively,” Keebler said. “We were rushing it with the ball and turning it over. Finally in that fourth quarter we started working the ball around and getting the open shot. In the first half, we shot the ball on the first or second pass.”
Both teams will be back in action today, as the Commodores host Elizabeth-Forward and the Mikes welcomes Beth-Center.