The Fishburne Military School Times-Connect

POST GRAD HOOPS: Fishburne falls in opener

ROSANNE WEBER/STAFF

Fishburne’s Chris Nelson looks to shoot against Mack on Monday in Waynesboro.

Fishburne coach Ed Huckaby hopes his team got a wake up call on Monday afternoon during its inaugural home game.

Mack Academy scored five 3 pointers in the second half, taking advantage of the tired Fishburne defense, to ruin the Caissons’ ribbon-cutting ceremony with a 99-81 win.

“We have 30 games and there is no doubt in my mind that we will win 24 or 25 of them,” Huckaby said. “No question in my mind. We took a butt whooping and that got everyone’s attention.”

Both the Mack and Fishburne programs are in their infancies.

“These teams were comparable in talent,” Huckaby said. “I have to give [Mack coach William] Sperow, credit he did an excellent job playing his guys.”

In the first half, Fishburne stayed in the game — trailing 43-37 — but after the break, Mack’s Isaiah Stokley began to pick apart the Caissons from outside the arc. Stokley scored three 3s in the first 10 minutes of the second half, with his last pulling the Golden Warriors out to a 60-43 lead.

“I’ve never coached a game other than when I was at Rice State University or Butler where a team shot 3s like that,” Huckaby said. “They were shooting contested 3s and deep corner 3s and they just knocked them down.”

Huckaby said that his team was waiting for the Warriors luck to run out, but after Will Bond drained two more treys, it became apparent it wasn’t.

“In the second media timeout, I told them they were going to let us back in the game,” Huckaby said. “You could tell by my demeanor on the sideline that I thought they were going to let us back in the game. That was my fault we lost, I could have made some adjustments.”

Fishburne’s Khalil Murphy, who was quiet in the first with just two points, put the Caissons on his back as the clock wore down. The 6-foot-8 New Jersey native scored 12 points in the second half, including two 3s.

“He starts shooting 3s and we had our hands down. You have to contest shots no matter who it is,” Sperow said. “They were giving him open looks because they thought he couldn’t shoot and he makes three of them.”

Marquise Barfield also made big contributions in the second half, scoring 10 points for a 13-point total.

Murphy and the Caissons pulled within seven points before the Warriors clamped down and began running the floor.

“[Mack] did a super job getting second chance points and they kept getting to the free throw line,” Sperow said. “We just wanted all five guys to rebound on defense.”

Fishburne will play again on Thursday, traveling to Southern Tech in Charlotte, N.C. On Nov. 12, the Caissons will go to the Miller School for a scrimmage before returning home on Nov. 14 for an early afternoon contest against Fork Union Academy.