Mustangs down rival Purple Eagles

By Mike Wertman, Sports Writer Posted 24 January 2017 at 8:53 pm

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Medina’s Izaiah Rhim puts up a shot over Albion defenders Chase Hall (2) and Lamar Chambers (3) durign the Mustangs home court win over the rival Purple Eagles this evening.

Moving on top to stay with a big scoring burst to close the first quarter, front-running Medina went on to defeat visiting rival Albion 77-52 this evening to improve to 7-0 in Niagara-Orleans League competition.

Alex Allis poured in a career high 24 points and Jalin Cooper tallied 22 to lead the Medina attack as Johnny Salone and Izaiah Rhim both added 11, Tyrellis Atkins 6, Jorge Phillips 2 and Vincent Montague 1.

Medina’s duo of Brendan Luthart (21) and Johnny Salone (20) go up for a rebound against Albion’s Demetrius Gardner.

Kory Reynolds scored 18 and Lamar Chambers 13 to pace Albion, which slips to 1-7. Chase Hall chipped in with 9, Jaquess Harrison 5, Jacob Buzard 4 and Demetrius Gardner 3.

Trailing 4-2, Medina regained the lead for good by closing the first quarter with a 15-2 run highlighted by two slam dunks off turnovers by Cooper. Allis added a 3 and a layup, Rhim two layups and Cooper a jumper during that stretch as the Mustangs grabbed a 17-6 lead.

Another dunk by Cooper upped the Medina lead to 15, 23-8, three minutes into the second quarter but Albion came battling back.

The Purple Eagles closed the period with a 12-5 run to slice the deficit to 8, 28-20, at the half. A three by Hall capped off that burst which also included buckets by Gardner, Buzard and Chambers.

However, the Purple Eagles could get no closer.

Medina quickly upped the lead back to 15, 35-20, at the outset of the third period after a layup and a dunk by Cooper and a three by Allis.

Albion did close to within 11, 43-32, after back-to-back baskets off turnovers by Chambers and Buzard but Medina regained a 14 point, 48-34, advantage at the three-quarter mark on a late three by Allis.

The Mustangs then opened up as much as a 29 point, 66-37, lead midway through the fourth quarter after a quick burst of three threes by Allis.