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Constitution tames Doughty, stays undefeated in Pub 'A'

02/02/2015, 11:30pm EST

By Tom Reifsnyder

Samir Doughty (above) only managed 18 points as Constitution slipped past MC&S on Monday night. (Photo: Josh Verlin)

Tom Reifsnyder (@tom_reifsnyder)
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Samir Doughty has done everything and more for Math, Civics & Sciences this season.

But his outstanding performances have rarely translated into wins.

That trend would continue on Monday night as the Constitution Generals held Doughty to 18 points, eight below his average, and slipped past MC&S, 72-65.

Before tonight, Doughty, the Public League ‘A’ Division’s leading scorer, had accumulated 525 points through 20 games in 2014-15; 167 points more than the second leading scorer, Constitution’s Ahmad Gilbert, whose team got the better of Doughty on Monday night.

After Doughty got off to a hot start with a game-high 11 points at the half, Constitution head coach Rob Moore implored his team to turn up the defensive pressure.

Moore’s wish was Constitution’s command as the Generals held the St. John’s-bound senior wing to seven points in the second half; and only three in the fourth quarter.

“[Doughty] is the best scorer in the Public League so we just tried to limit his opportunities, make it hard for him to score,” Moore said. “I think we tired him out down the stretch, but ultimately, we tried to slow a kid down who score can score pretty much anywhere in this gym.

“Probably my two best defending guards in my starting lineup are out today so we had to figure something out so we’re just happy to get away with a win at this point.”

Moore is referring to senior guards Akeem King and Haneef Vaughn, whom each sustained injuries during a non-league game in Florida this season. King and Vaughn will be back for the playoffs, according to Moore.

In front of a Doughty-crazed crowd, it was Constitution’s Kimar Williams who ultimately stole the show.

Thirty seconds into the fourth quarter, MC&S had trimmed Constitution’s 6-point halftime lead (38-32) to only one.

Williams had seen enough.

Over the next two minutes, the senior point guard crushed a fast break slam, went coast to coast for a contact layup and pulled off a mind-boggling up-and-under finish.

“When [Williams] is locked in, I always know it’s safe,” Moore said. “But when he’s not locked in, sometimes he can be a little lackadaisical with the ball.

“But for the most part, he’s been the leader of the best team in the Public League this year, and if that doesn’t make him the MVP…”

Just like that, the Generals were back in the driver’s seat as MC&S trailed 59-52 with five minutes to play.

But the game was far from over. After matching up man-to-man for the first two quarters, MC&S switched to a zone defense in the second half, hoping for a change of fortune.

Just as Constitution began cracking under pressure, Williams took it upon himself to thwart MC&S’s zone scheme.

“I think it was getting to us a little bit; we were doing too much against the zone until we calmed down and got ourselves composed,” Williams said. “Once we got our composure, we started to pick it up.

“I just had to calm the team down and let them know to keep our composure and keep getting good shots.”

While preserving a lead with time running out for MC&S, Williams resorted to standing at half court with the ball, daring defenders to play him one-on-one.

“Anybody can sit in a zone, but nobody can guard Kimar in the city so the whole goal is to make people come out and stick him,” Moore said.

Forced to get the ball out of Williams hands, MC&S tried its luck at the daunting task and got burned.

Weaving through traffic like a Lamborghini, Williams dished out a flurry of assists in the final four minutes to senior forwards Gilbert and Chad Andrews-Fulton, who combined to score Constitution’s final 13 points of the game; Gilbert and Andrews-Fulton each finished with 15 points.

As Doughty was face guarded and double teamed for much of the second half, senior guard Keith Griffin took advantage, scoring 16 points in the final two quarters en route to a game-high 24 points for MC&S (9-12, 2-8). Fellow senior guard Donovan Barnes chipped in 13 in the loss.

Constitution (15-6, 9-0) will look to cap off a perfect Public League ‘A’ season as the Generals take on Del-Val tomorrow.