The Shadow
McKinley Mann had quite a five-day stretch in the Alleghany Highlands.
Tuesday, the 6-foot-10 James Monroe senior put up 33 points and grabbed 30 rebounds in a win at Covington.
And over the weekend, Mann won Most Valuable Player honors, leading his Mavericks to the championship of the inaugural Mountaineer Invitational Tournament.
In Saturday’s title game, Mann put up 19 points and hauled in 15 boards, leading James Monroe to a 57-52 win over Christiansburg.
“McKinley has progressed each year,” said Mavericks head coach Matt Sauvage. “He’s a young one. He’s going to graduate at 17. He can almost be a junior. His ceiling is still pretty high. He’s still on the way to where he’s going to be.”
Shad Sauvage added 13 for the tournament champions, who improved to 3-0 on the season.
Issac Hayden had a big 27-point effort for the Blue Demons (4-3), who led 22-20 at the halftime break.
Saturday’s consolation game saw Alleghany turn back Covington for the third time this season, 67-65.
This one wasn’t decided until the final buzzer.
The Cougars (1-6), who led by as many as 10 in the first half, clawed back from nine down in the final 90 seconds.
Garrett Morgan and Jacob Roldan both hit long range threes in the final 21 seconds, but Roldan’s desperation look at the buzzer was off the mark.
“We’re getting an idea of what we can do,” said CHS coach Keith Moore. “But we’re still making those small mistakes. We understand that every night is not going to be a perfect night. But I think we’re getting better with every game. We had a chance to win it tonight. I’m satisfied with the effort, but we’re still disappointed we didn’t get it done.”
Triston Hensley and Chris Tingler both had big 17-point games, while Corey Easton added 11 for the Mountaineers (3-2).
Hensley had 14 points in the second half, while Tingler added 12, rallying Alleghany from a 31-24 halftime hole.
“I’m not going to lie, we were pretty disappointed that we weren’t playing for the championship tonight,” said AHS coach Nolan Caldwell. “I was worried that we would have a hangover from that. But with that being said, I thought we fought back in the second half.”
A short jumper from Hensley and a Corey Easton three gave Alleghany a 35-34 lead with 4:50 left in the third quarter.
It was the first Mountie lead since the opening minute of the game.
Hensley’s nine third-quarter points changed the momentum, said Caldwell.
“Triston’s a junior, but he doesn’t have a lot of varsity experience,” he said. “The thing about him is that he’s really worked hard on himself. He’s a very strong young man. He was able to get in there and play through some contact.”
The Mountaineers held a 63-54 lead with 1:20 to play before the Cougars rallied and nearly snatched the win.
A pair of Tijon Rice free throws, a Jabari Williams inside score and one of two at the line from Roldan got Covington to within four, 63-59, with 34.5 seconds left.
Tingler’s two free throws were countered by Morgan’s three and one Hensley foul shot was trumped by a Roldan three with 8.8 seconds left, drawing the Cougars within one, 66-65.
Corey Easton hit one of two at the line with five ticks left setting up Roldan last-second attempt at the win.
“We settled down and held our composure,” said Moore. “Two minutes is a long time. I keep telling these guys that when it’s all said and done we’re going to be battle tested.”
Rice led Covington with 16 points, Morgan added 12 and Roldan had 11.
“Don’t take anything away from Covington tonight,” Caldwell finished. “They changed some things in how they played. I watched them last night and I knew they were going to be a lot better. They played very well tonight.”
The Mountaineers’ scheduled home game with Bath County was postponed on Monday and no make-up date has been set. Alleghany will play in Hot Springs against the Chargers on Friday.
Covington continues a busy early season stretch, playing at James Monroe on Wednesday, at James River on Friday and hosting Greenbrier East on Saturday night.
All-Tournament Team
Six players were selected to the MIT All-Tournament team following Saturday’s championship match-up.
Three players off the champion James Monroe Mavericks led the way.
Mann, the tournament MVP, was joined by Sauvage and Jaylon Lewis.
Hayden represented Christiansburg, with Tingler (Alleghany) and Rice (Covington) rounding out the selections.
