When he was needed the most, Berkmar’s Malique Ewin really made his presence known.
The 6-foot-10 senior and Ole Miss signee scored 12 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter to help the No. 2-ranked Patriots hold off No. 6 Grayson 62-57 in the third round of the Class 7A playoffs at Grayson.
Ewing, who scored only four points in the first half, upped the aggression in the fourth quarter. He made strong baseline moves to the basket and slammed home well-timed passes at the rim. He scored 10 straight points in the fourth quarter, one an impressive steal and slam, and kept the Rams at bay.
“He’s so unselfish,” Berkmar coach Greg Phillips said. “They were zone early and we didn’t do a good job of finding him. Then in the third and fourth quarter, I honestly just got out of the way and let them do what they do best, which is penetrate. They had to help on our guards and Malique was assertive and you saw what happened.”
The effort was necessary because the determined Rams would not yield, particularly 6-foot-4 Gicarri Harris. The senior scored a game-high 25 points, 17 in the second half, and drained three straight 3-pointers that barely moved the net.
Berkmar (25-5) was playing shorthanded, with 6-foot-7 senior Bo Hurns out with a foot injury. In his stead, Jameel Rideout scored 17 and Jermahri Hill scored 15. The Region 7 champions have won 16 straight games.
Grayson (21-9) also got 15 points from Tyrese Elliott, who left the game with 6:31 remaining with an unidentified leg injury. The loss broke a seven-game winning streak for the Region 4 champions.
Grayson led 26-24 at halftime, but scored only three points in the third quarter as Berkmar carried a 36-29 lead into the final quarter. The Patriots stretched the lead to nine points on two occasions, but Harris cut the lead to five with a 3-pointer and-one. That’s when Ewin took over and his steal and slam began his one-man assault.
“That turned everything,” Ewin said. “You’ve got to turn the fire up a little more than what it is now. Got my team going with the dunk”
It was the defense, too. Brycen Blaine, Rideout and Hill made it tough on Grayson to get easy looks.
“From midway in the third through the fourth, we got some unbelievable stops,” Phillips said. “Defensively I think we did really well and taking care of the ball, no live turnovers, that was huge.”
It was a two-possession game until the final minute, but Grayson never got closer than four points. A pair of free throws by Rideout with 8.6 seconds gave Berkmar a seven-point lead and put the game away.
Berkmar advances to play the winner of the Milton-Pebblebrook game on Friday at 8 p.m. at the Buford City Arena. The Patriots are one win away from a return trip to the state championship game.
“We just earned 32 more minutes for the seniors,” Phillips said. “That’s all we’ve been given. Now we’ve got to get ready to play our butts off for 32 minutes and maybe try for 32 more.
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