Wolverines hold grip on lead, send Charles City to fifth consecutive loss

Charles City's Christian Stewart (3) challenges Carver's 6'6" center Damian Mosher on a drive to the basket.

Andre' Jones photo

Reaching success is a culmination of effort, teamwork, and the ability to get over the hump. For Charles City’s Panthers matchup Friday night against Carver Academy, each time they positioned themselves for a chance to take a lead, turnovers and not being able to finish at the rim haunted the hosts.

Carver Academy Wolverines staved off every effort presented by Charles City’s Panthers in triumphing 69-54 in the Tidewater District contest.
With Carver slumping early on as the result of not being in school due to inclement weather, the Panthers bolted out of the gate. Kameron Johnson’s jumper along with Keenan Stewart’s basket established a 4-0 lead. Johnson’s floater in the lane forced the district favorite Wolverines to burn an early timeout.

After the brief hiatus, Carver returned to form. Earl Hill drained three consecutive three-pointers for the guests to tie the game at nine apiece. A back-and-forth affair finished out the quarter, with a scoop shot from Carver’s Mikael Jaaber providing a 16-13 lead for the guests.

The Panthers reclaimed the lead early in the second quarter after Johnson’s lay-in and his assist to teammate Tanner Grubbs (17-16). Steven Williams added two free throws to provide the hosts with their biggest lead of the night (19-16).

But the Wolverines unleashed their wrath moments later with a 10-0 run capped off by Jaaber’s three-pointer. Despite the hosts taking a time-out to try to calm the run, Jaaber added an uncontested lay-in along with another trifecta which propelled Carver to a 32-25 halftime lead.

The intermission break rejuvenated the Panthers. A conventional three-point play by Christian Stewart followed by Johnson’s dime to Keenan Stewart cut Carver’s advantage to four (34-30). That advantage grew smaller after Keenan Stewart’s trifecta from the top of the key brought the game within a mere point.

But opportunities at the basket for the hosts to gain the lead fell by the wayside as the guests snatched up rebounds. Holding a two-point lead (37-35), Carver’s Zyaire Muhammad knocked down two balls from long range in amounted to a 12-5 run to close the quarter with a nine-point advantage (49-40) for Carver. From there, the Wolverines grew a double-digit lead on eight consecutive points by Damian Mosher and never looked back to claim the win.

After the game, Charles City head coach Terrell Brooks spoke about making good decisions in keen moments.

“It came down to turnovers again,” the disappointed coach said. “We need to have a better understanding of time and situation.

“Tonight, we couldn’t get over the hump and kept beating ourselves,” Brooks continued. “We’re better than what our record says and the way we are playing.”

Keenan Stewart and Johnson both scored 16 points to lead Charles City (0-5) in scoring. Christian Stewart added nine, Rashad Williams tossed in five, and the quartet of Grubbs, Steven Williams, Leo Charity, and Keondre Barnes chipped in with two apiece.

Carver Academy’s Jaaber was the high scorer in the contest with 21 points.