Weatherly falls to MMI
MMI’s Philip Byriel was the tallest player on the court during Tuesday’s contest against Weatherly. And he played like it.
Byriel displayed all of his tools on both ends of the court. He scored a game-high 27 points and ripped down 17 rebounds during the Preppers’ 60-52 non-league victory over the Wreckers.
“Our first game of the year, he got in some foul trouble early,” said MMI coach Joe Flanagan. “Today, he owned the boards. Still working on him going to the basket aggressively, but he did much better. He shot some fouls shots today, and he should be shooting them all the time.”
The Preppers led by three after one, but extended their lead to eight at intermission.
MMI closed out the quarter with an 11-0 run, as Byriel scored seven straight points on a three-pointer, a runner, and a layup after an offensive rebound.
“One of my keys to the game was that we needed to match their physicality,” the MMI coach said. “And I thought we did. I was concerned about that, and their fans were fired up and it was a good atmosphere for our kids to learn from.”
Weatherly played intense in-your-face defense, which created 19 turnovers and helped keep them in the game — but fouls were a big issue for the Wreckers.
“The level of play was unbelievable with those guys, they just turned it up,” said Weatherly mentor Corey Gerhart.” They had us 25 to 8 on fouls, and they shot 25-of-31 from the foul line, and that was the game right there.”
But all of the Wreckers’ players have the green light on the floor, and they made some runs to keep pace with MMI. Gabe Miller finished with 16 points to lead Weatherly, while Scotty Zoscin and Julian Miller each tallied nine. Julian Miller made some impressive dribble-penetration moves, and assisted on a handful of easy baskets for his teammates.
“Our guard play was intense, and that’s back to old school, and that’s what I want to see,” said Gerhart. “We had a couple forced threes … we definitely have the guards that can shoot them … I don’t care if we put up 50, but we better be at a high percentage.”
Weatherly, whose last lead was 24-23 in the second quarter, trailed by as many as 14 midway through the final period. However, one last spurt cut the lead to eight by the time the final horn sounded.
“We missed a couple of important shots late, ones that could have helped us out and given us a little swing,” Gerhart said. “We got some good looks ... I told the guys if you’re open, put it up. There’s no hesitation. We just need to crash the boards.”
RIGHT INTO THEM … MMI took four charges in the second half, with Weatherly players Wrecking right into them. “Credit to them, they took the charges,” said Gerhart. “They stepped up and aren’t afraid to play physical, and we didn’t do that.”
UMMMM, PIAA? … Next year, MMI will be the only team in District 2 Class 1A.
MMI
Byriel 8-10-12-27, Young 1-6-6-8, Kassick 3-5-7-11, Marchetti 5-1-2-12, Palermo 0-2-4-2, Hoover 0-0-0-0. TOTAL:17-24-31-60
WEATHERLY
Moon 2-0-0-5, Bucks 1-0-0-3, Yurchak 2-0-0-4, G. Miller 7-0-0-16, Zoscin 3-2-4-9, J. Miller 4-0-0-9, Knepper 0-0-0-0, Arthur2-0-0-6. TOTAL: 21-2-4-52
MMI 13 19 13 15 - 60
Weatherly 10 14 12 16 - 52
Three-pointers: MMI – Byriel 1, Marchetti 1; Weatherly – Moon 1, Buck 1, G. Miller 2, Arthur 2, Zoscin 1, J. Miller 1.
