Saturday morning inside the Beckley-Raleigh County Convention Center the James Monroe boys basketball team had the band back together for the first time in a couple of weeks.
The No. 2-ranked Mavericks didn’t miss a beat in their showdown with No. 5 (tie) Webster County at the New River CTC Invitational.
While the two big guns for James Monroe, Shad Sauvage and Eli Allen were their normal selves, combining for 42 points, it was the supporting cast that stole the show returning from early season injuries.
Cameron Thomas scored 20 points and the defensive effort from Josh Burks in the first game back for the pair were both key factors leading the Mavericks to a 68-57 win over the Highlanders.
“It has been an interesting time,” James Monroe head coach Matt Sauvage said. “It was nice to see them all back together and in the second half you could really see it.”
The first half featured seven ties and stood squared at 34 apiece after the first 16 minutes of play.
However, in the first five minutes of the second half, James Monroe took control of the contest and never looked back.
“The first half we played a little slow and our defense wasn’t getting after it,” senior Shad Sauvage said. “In the second half we really got after it and forced a lot of turnovers. We had a really great start to the second half.”
Two straight layups by Allen on run-outs were followed by two free throws from Sauvage and a stickback from Thomas for a 42-34 lead.
“I didn’t see much of a change and we didn’t change much at halftime,” coach Sauvage said. “We realized that we just needed to finish better and make some better decisions on our drives. Defensively I thought we played well in the first half.”
“Shad and Eli get a lot of attention from other teams and they should. When they are able to make plays, to me, that is the difference in the game. When you can create a 10-point separation over a two-minute span, it changes the game. That was big for us.”
Webster all-stater Rye Gadd stemmed the tide with the first score of the second half for the Highlanders, but Allen and Sauvage continued to attack and apply pressure.
Allen penetrated and scored on a nice move with his left hand. A steal on the ensuing inbound was converted into a triple from Sauvage for the first double-digit lead of the game.
The Mavs would lead by as many as 15 in the quarter, but eight more points from Gadd kept Webster close and only down 10 after three quarters.
“Rye Gadd is a heckuva a player. I enjoy watching him play and he is a good guy too. You could tell that was our focus today,” coach Sauvage said. “We are still going to concentrate on the other players, but in the first half some of those players hit their shots. We didn’t want Gadd to beat us if at all possible. He still got some points, but I think we held him in check enough to do what we could do.”
Three free throws from Sauvage with 2:13 to play gave the Mavericks their biggest lead at 17 points.
“We have had it rough over the first part of the season. It was really nice having everybody back and healthy,” Shad Sauvage said. “When we were coming off the screens, the backside person on Cameron would help off which would give him a lot of free buckets on the backside. Eli attacks the bucket so well and since they were leaving the backside open that was our focus.”
After an injury to Thomas against Greater Beckley left fans wondering if he would play again this year, his performance had his coach beaming after the game.
“Cameron played huge for us today. I thought it was one his better high school games. Not just the shots he was getting, but also his defense and the hedging on screens,” coach Sauvage said. “Cameron is still getting his strength back too. He got a busted lip on the second play of the game, but he wouldn’t come out. After sitting out for the last couple of weeks, he wasn’t coming out. You like to see that as a coach.”
Burks, who is described as the team’s best defender, was coming back from a fractured wrist in the second game of the season.
“Maybe the unnoticed one of the bunch was Josh. He didn’t score a point today, but he was one of our most important players out there. He just enjoyed the win and that is what this group is all about,” coach Sauvage said. “He is still a little slow-of-foot right now and is about 75 percent. Most wouldn’t recognize that because he is so good defensively. He came back from the fractured wrist and 20 minutes into the first practice he rolled his ankle, but he has fought his way back.”
Sauvage had 24 for the Mavs and Allen had 18. Gadd led the Highlanders with a game-high 26 and Rayden Triplett scored 17.
WC: 14 20 12 11 – 57
JM: 18 16 22 17 – 68
Webster County 57
Riley Clevenger 7, Rye Gadd 26, Rayden Triplett 17, Andrew Hardway 2, Dakota Blankenship 2, Kyle Mcmillion 3. Totals: 22 6-10 57.
James Monroe 68
Shad Sauvage 24, Eli Allen 18, A.J. Walker 4, Haiden Huffman 2, Cameron Thomas 20. Totals 25 14-24 68.
3-pointers – WC: 6 (Clevenger, Gadd 2, Triplett 3); JM: 4 (Sauvage).
