Maurice Dixon
@WriturRece | mdixon27@gmail.com
DOUGLASVILLE (GA) – The Therrell Panthers seemed very comfortable playing Monday afternoon at Douglas County High, and that was enough to propel them past Eagle’s Landing Christian Academy.
Behind Robbie Armbrester’s (21 points, 12 rebounds) and Ra’Sean Frederick’s (19 points) offensive output and Roman Son’s (13 points, seven assists) vision, Therrell built a huge first-quarter lead on the way to a 64-53 win over ELCA during the 3rd Annual MLK Holiday Basketball Classic on January 21.
Mekhi Cameron led all players in scoring with 24 points, including three 3-pointers, for the Chargers, who were outscored 20-6 in the opening quarter.
The Panthers (17-6, 10-0) scored the first nine points of the game and Son handed out assists on the team’s first three baskets by Armbrester, Frederick and Jemontae Jean. In the second quarter, Son continued to find his teammates but Armbrester went to work in the paint to help Therrell stretch the margin out to 20 points then 35-18 at the half.
[Robbie’s] a beast,” Son said. “He’s just a sophomore so he is going to be nice and it will be crazy.”
The Panthers’ defense–individually and collectively–in the first half also had ELCA bottled up, causing the Chargers (13-7, 7-0) to take a number of contested shots.
After halftime, Cameron sparked a shift in the momentum with six straight points to eventually help ELCA get back within single digits (41-34) by the end of the third.
But Armbrester and Frederick would step up in the fourth to rebuild Therrell’s lead and produce a fifth straight win.
“When we jump out early that takes their heart and we just got to keep going,” Son said. “They came back in the third quarter but we had to bounce back and keep the lead and finish the game off.”