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Imhotep locks down King in second half for win

01/18/2018, 10:45pm EST
By Josh Verlin

Jamil Riggins Jr. (above) and Imhotep moved two games up in the Public League's 'A' Division by beating King on Thursday. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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Andre Noble wasn’t thinking about his Imhotep squad keeping up a perfect record in Public League play when the Panthers trailed Martin Luther King by three at halftime on Thursday afternoon in a battle of the top two teams in the ‘A’ division.

He was thinking more a month down the line, when he hopes his Panthers will be defending their league championship -- and a little further after that, when they’re expected to go for another state title.

“We need this,” he said later. “We need tough league games...we’re on the road, we have to show some character.”

Noble was certainly pleased with his team’s response. The Panthers clamped down on the Cougars out of the break, quickly taking the lead and not letting its opponent come up for air in a 54-40 win.

It was a decisive third quarter that went 20-4 in Imhotep’s favor which made the difference, and that period was all about Imhotep’s defense. The Panthers forced 14 turnovers for the game and really bothered King in the third quarter, holding the Cougars to 1-for-10 shooting after they’d gone 10-for-21 in the half.

“We had to work hard and we had to finish out because the first half, we had a little difficulty,” junior wing Jamil Riggins Jr. said. “We had to do it the ‘Tep way.”

Senior guard Bernard Lightsey led the way with 16 points, including four 3-pointers; Riggins had 13 points and fellow junior wing Donta Scott complemented 10 points with six rebounds, three steals, two assists and a block.

The win moves Imhotep to 6-0 in the Public League (14-2 overall), and the No. 1 team in the PIAA’s 4A rankings is now two games up on the rest of the Pub’s top division with four games left in league play.

Last year, Noble said, it wasn’t until the Public League championship game -- also against King -- that Imhotep finally faced a gut-check. But that team had a senior class of Division I commits Daron Russell (Rhode Island), Koby Thomas (Robert Morris) and David Beatty (South Carolina).

This year’s group has plenty of future Division I talent -- Scott and Riggins both have multiple offers, as do fellow juniors Dahmir Bishop and Chereef Knox plus sophomore Elijah Taylor. But they haven’t had to lead a team through a playoff run yet. And there’s only one way to find out if they’re ready.

“We need that [to happen before then] so we have to beat a team that’s playing tough on us and we’re down, what kind of character do we have?” Noble said. “I thought our kids showed a lot of character, came out in the third quarter, really locked down defensively.”

King (9-6, 4-2) was paced by a 19-point outing from senior guard Denelle Holly, who also grabbed six rebounds. Holly was unconscious in the first quarter, hitting his first four shots -- including two 3-pointers -- as the Cougars jumped out to leads of 9-0 and 13-3 within the first five minutes.

“(Holly) made some shots and got them going,” Noble said. “Then the crowd gets into it, now you’re down 13-3 and who are you? Are you going to fold at that, are you going to respond to that, who are you?

“We knew what our team is last year, but some of the guys that were the heart of that team don’t wear an Imhotep jersey anymore,” he continued. “So it’s like, who are you guys, you guys get to respond and tell people who you are. And I thought they did a good job today.”

The Imhotep defense was particularly effective inside. Taylor, Scott, Knox and Bishop all played a role in limiting King’s 6-9 senior forward Will McNair to six points, all on foul shots, though he did grab six of his eight rebounds on the offensive end.

“I thought we did a good job besides the fouling and putting them on the free-throw line, I thought defensively our guys really responded well and that leads to all our other stuff,” Noble said. “Really proud of the character they showed today.”


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