Mules Fight For Win in Close Match With Wildcats

The Mules (2-0) landed their second win (75-64) of the season Friday night in a nail-biter match in Old Westbury against the Wheatley Wildcats, who challenged a young and inexperienced Malverne squad.

With their coach shouting, "Three on! Three on!," Malverne turned on the pressure right from the start, executing their three-man press on the Wildcats, but an unguarded Wheatley player was able to put up the first points of the game.

The man of the night, Mules senior Corey Alexander, answered back right away, with a beautiful shot from the top right side of the key, which would turn out to be his sweet spot.

Malverne grabbed the lead soon after off a solid pass to Jerry Voltaire, who sunk his layup. The Mules' continued to pressure Wheatley on their side of the court, forcing them to travel and turn over the ball, but they let down their guard for one second, allowing the Wildcats to tie it up on a breakaway.

Wheatley grabbed the lead, 6-4, sinking a shot from just inside the paint, but Alexander stepped up again, stealing the ball and driving to the basket for a shot, which drew a foul. Alexander, who was consistent with his free throws throughout the night, sunk both to tie up the game, but Wheatley responded by sinking a 3-pointer as the shot clock was winding down.

Junior Cyrus Clarke evened the score again for the Mules and a great rebound shot by Alexander put Malverne ahead, but the tango continued as Wheatley retaliated by sinking its free throws.

With only two minutes remaining in the first quarter, Alexander provided the turning point of the game as he drove into the key, breaking through the Wildcats defense, and created some hang time to sink the shot that would shift the lead back to the Mules, 13-11. Senior Marcus Montgomery built upon this with a great rebound while getting fouled by the Wildcats. Montgomery sank both his free throws and soon after, Alexander took advantage of a messy pass by Wheatley to snatch the ball and pitch it back to Montgomery for a breakaway layup. Malverne hustled on defense, allowing Wheatley only one more basket for the quarter, which came to an end seconds after Alexander sunk a beautiful 3-point shot. 

Malverne held a solid 21-13 lead heading into the second quarter. They would refuse to surrender it again for the rest of the night, but had to fight off the persistent Wildcats every step of the way.

The Mules struggled to settle into the second quarter, but found their groove two minutes in, when they nailed back-to-back baskets to take a 10-point lead. High pressure defense, hustle and great rebounding helped Malverne stay on top, but excessive fouls had Wheatley heading to the foul line for 1-and-1 free throws with still six minutes remaining in the first half.

Alexander delivered another perfect 3-point shot from his favorite spot, but Wheatley fired right back sinking their own 3-pointer. Wheatley also struggled with reigning in their fouls, giving Malverne more scoring opportunities with 1-to-1 free throws. The joint foul-fest slowed down the final two minutes of the second quarter as both teams took turns strolling to the foul line.

Alexander, who delivered a high 41 points for the night, capped off the first half of the game with a 3-pointer followed immediately by a breakaway layup to take the Mules into the locker room leading 38-28.

Wheatley came out on fire at the start of the third quarter, inching closer to the Mules, 40-36, with some help from Malverne, who continued to take fouls. The Mules turned up the pressure even more, pulling in a fourth man to press the Wildcats on their side of the court, which resulted in a steal by Alexander, who fired a laser pass to senior Xavier Bernard who sank a shot from the left corner. Senior Ronald Spencer boosted the lead, tipping the ball into the net off of a rebound while also drawing a foul. The Mules managed to shoot out again to a 48-39 lead, while a superb, clean block by Spencer shut down Wheatley without handing over another foul. Alexander capitalized on this with another steal that he took in for a layup, and back-to-back fouls by Wheatley sent the Mules back to the foul line.

Wheatley was not going down without a fight though. The Wildcats assembled an offensive onslaught that brought them within 6 points of the Mules, but Alexander came through again with another layup to end the third quarter at 52-44.

An exciting fourth quarter awaited both teams. As it was Winterfest for Wheatley, fans, fellow athletes and cheerleaders packed the home-team side of the stadium and took their cheering to a new level for the final 8 minutes of the game. The crowd galvanized Wheatley to rally and may have contributed to what appeared to be a fourth quarter collapsed for Malverne. While the Wildcats went on a scoring drive, the Mules were plagued with messy passing, missed free throws and even a turn-over off of a double-dribble. The home team crown went wild as Wheatley sank another 2-point shot that drew a foul and put Malverne's lead was in real jeopardy at 53-52.

As luck would have it the Wildcat missed the free throw, and Wheatley gave up a foul soon after, giving Mules junior Derrick Dixon a chance to strengthen Malverne's lead. Dixon was interrupted from shooting twice as the referee had to reprimand the crowd for trying to distract Malverne. (The league rules require fans to keep quiet during free throws.) Dixon sank one of his two shots to perk up the Mules lead slightly, but they gave up another foul the Wildcats, who also sank a foul shot to bring the score within 1 point again. A 3-pointer by Malverne, followed up by a 2-point basket for the Wildcats, kept the game close, and as Alexander headed to the free throw line again for the Mules, the fans continued with their distraction efforts - this time mocking the noise rule with a resounding "Shhhhh..."

The star shooter flubbed his first free throw, but sunk the second, and a layup off of a steal by Spencer helped the Mules bolster their score. Wheatley surrendered another foul and senior Anthony Moultrie silenced the Wildcats fans by sinking both of this free throws with roughly three minutes left of play.

The battled ensued as Wheatley nailed a 3-pointer and Alexander dribbled in hard for a layup that gave him another chance at the free throw line, where he sunk both of his shots. Alexander continued his streak by slowing down the tempo of the game, then surprising his opponents by driving into the top of the key and pulling up for a fade-away basket. He then gave up a smart foul to block a Wildcats layup, which Wheatley was unable to capitalize on. This was not the case for Alexander, who delivered twice when sent back to the foul line, and Montgomery, who also sank one his free throws, as the Wildcats gave up penalties as they started to collapse. Wheatley conjured up another 3-pointer with under a minute left in the game, but could not catch the Mules, which solidified their lead off of another free throw by Alexander and Spencer-layup off of a steal. Never backing down, the Wildcats squeezed in another 3 points from a successful layup-free throw combo, but it was useless as the buzzer brought the game to an end soon after with Malverne on top, 75-64.

Score: Malverne 75 - Wheatley-64

Turning Point:  The first turning point for Malverne came toward the end of the first quarter, when they shot out to a solid lead that they were able to maintain for the rest of the game. The second decisive point came in the final minutes of the game, when Wheatley put the Mules lead in real jeopardy, but Malverne fought off its persistent opponent and assembled a strong offensive drive to secure the win.

Coach's Corner: "It's not a great win," said Mules Head Coach Darrol Lopez after the game. "They struggled against a team that was well-coached. Except for Corey, everyone's young. It's going to take some time for them to gel right and become a championship caliber team."

Lopez wished he had more time to prepare his team before starting the season, explaining that in the past the Mules usually didn't start league play until January. "Two games before Christmas is not good," he added.

Of his star player, Corey Alexander, who delivered an astounding 41-points for the night, Lopez said, "One kid can not carry the whole team."

Bottom line: Both teams took excessive fouls, 22 for Malverne and 26 for Wheatley, but the Mules high-pressure defense and a spectacular performance by Corey Alexander enabled the young team to come out on top.

Stats:  Alexander led the game with a high of 41 points, and Spencer delivered 10 , for the night. 

Who's Next: The Mules take on Cold Spring Harbor High School on Dec. 21 at 6:45p.m. on their home court.