While much of the hype coming into today’s game seemed to be surrounding New Rochelle’s recent loss to Scarsdale, Mount Vernon wasn’t coming off their best effort either.
Mount Vernon coach Bob Cimmino was unhappy with his team’s performance in their win against White Plains.
“Just from when it started to when it finished,” said Cimmino of when he was unhappy with the Knights play against the Tigers.
Mount Vernon showed no signs of overlooking the Huguenots, jumping out to a big early lead and, with few exceptions, maintaining it throughout the game.
Pressure proved to be the difference, as the Knights intense press and defense caused New Rochelle into several costly turnovers.
“It was a hard fought game,” said Jamal Lewis (pictured above), who had a game-high 18 points and five rebounds. “We got our heads big at the end and it got too close, but we stayed focused and got the win.”
NEW ROCHELLE Mount Vernon’s Jamal Lewis was ready.
The senior forward had been looking forward to the Knights’ game against rival New Rochelle on Thursday, and while a leg injury kept him out of the starting lineup, Lewis made the most of his minutes when he got them.
Mount Vernon defeated New Rochelle 74-56 in the first of two regular-season games played between the schools that are separated by less than two miles.
“I’m just glad we got the win,” said Lewis, who had a game-high 18 points and five rebounds. “We got a long season ahead, so we can’t let this one win get to our head.”
“It’s a rivalry game,” Mount Vernon’s Brandon Martin said. “You can never take (New Rochelle) for granted. You never know what’s going to happen in a rivalry game.”
The Knights took an early 9-2 lead, but Martin (15 points, four rebounds) took an elbow to the eye going for a rebound, and the swelling forced him to sit out the remainder of the quarter.
The Huguenots gained steam later in the quarter, taking a 12-11 lead with 1:42 left thanks to the play of Joe Clarke, who would finish with 16 points and six rebounds, and Derek Dorn, who would score nine for the game.
“(New Rochelle) being as good athletes as they are, they’re able to get deflections,” Knights coach Bob Cimmino said. “It was kind of like a snowball going downhill. They picked up some speed and we didn’t answer too quickly.”
The start of the second quarter would bring the return of Martin and Mount Vernon’s intensity on defense. The Knights went on a 10-2 run to open the quarter and led 24-14 with four minutes left in the half.
“Defense is going to be the key,” Cimmino said, explaining what he told the team before the start of the second quarter. “We can make mistakes on offense, but if we play our defense we’ll be good.”
The Knights would push their lead as high as 16 late in the half as New Rochelle struggled to handle the pressure Mount Vernon put on the ball. The Knights also dominated the glass, out-rebounding the Huguenots 18-9 in the half.
After trailing by as many as 20 at points in the third quarter, New Rochelle showed some life early in the fourth, cutting the Knights’ lead to 10.
“I think we were trying to run them out of the gym,” Cimmino said. “We weren’t capable of doing that. I think we need to take care of the ball.”
Martin credited senior guard Josh Doughty (nine points, six rebounds, four assists) with calming down the squad as the Knights built their lead back up.
Lewis would put the finishing touches on the win with a breakaway dunk in the final minutes that brought the Mount Vernon fans to their feet.
“I had to get out in the open court one time,” Lewis said.
59 Comments
As someone who has observed mv’s program for a long time, one of the most impressive things I see is how well coach cimmino has helped build up the Junior Knights. The Junior Knights program is by far the best around at teaching kids and getting them top quality competition at a young age. It is not a coincidence that so much of the great talent at MV is on the varsity in 8th grade or getting big minutes as freshmen. Think about it, a big percentage of the mv stars are already big time players by 9th grade – Ben Gordon, Jonathan Mitchell, Kevin jones, mike coburn, Sherrod wright, Hinds. I think Keith Benjamin and Dexter Grey were botbid starters as sophs. Cousins is one of the few D1 MV kids who don’t seem to put ot all together until their senior year. Coach Cimmino obviously does an incredible job with the mvhs program and deserves all the accolades he gets, but I think it isn’t said enough how important the work coach Cimmino and his assts do with the junior knights coaches teaching the kids how to play early and developing them young.
In the Last 5yrs Jabarie Hinds is the ONLY Knight to get minutes before being a Soph. Isaiah Cousins, Jerrel Marshall & Will Robinson all got meaningful mins as Sophs 3 seasons ago. Brandon Martin got Em last year. So what HoopsFan says about 8th grade & freshman playing meaningful minutes hasn’t happened since Jabarie 5 seasons ago!
RC,
The point of my comment was about ‘big-time’ players. Do you disagree that with most of the big-time MV players in the last 10-15 years have in fact gotten minutes as a freshman or 8th grader (Ben Gordon, Jonathan Mitchell, Kevin Jones, Coburn, Sherrod Wright, Hinds)? As I mentioned, Isaiah Cousins is one of the few kids who would be considered a late bloomer who didn’t blow up until his senior year – Cousins was on the varsity as a soph, but improved his game a lot by his Sr year. Benjamin and Grey were starters as sophs several years ago. I liked Jerrell Marshall’s game a lot, I like Will Robinson’s game, I definitely like Brandon Martin, but in all fairness those three young men are not on the same level with Hinds, Mitchell, Kevin Jones, Sherrod Wright, etc. Before you disagree with me, actually think about what I’ve written.
I thought about what you wrote & since Jabarie your comments are irrelevant. If you know of the next phenom who’s going to get minutes before his sophmore yr, please enlighten. Otherwise live in the present. The knights have become a team which rewards kids later then sooner. Info from 5-6 yrs ago is OLD news.
Since you want me to READ what you write, you’re wrong about Isaiah. Without him the Knights would not have won states his JR yr. He stole an inbounds pass & scored to turn the semifinal game around vs Tavon Sledge & Hills West. Stop comparing Isaiah. He’s getting meaningful mins as a Frosh at Oklahoma. I only wish another Ben Gordon was on the way, You really don’t know the present knights. Stop living in the past. Times have changed. And BTW Jerrel, William & Isaiah all contributed GREATLY as Soph’s I only wish we had that this yr. Brandon was a SuperSoph last yr.
RC,
I’m not saying Cousins wasn’t a big part of his team as a jr. He started didn’t, he? Cousins was a good prospect as a soph, a solid starter as a jr, but he wasn’t a superstar as a soph or jr like Gordon, Coburn, Wright, Mitchell, Kevin jones, Hinds. Any real MV fan wil tell you – there are no superstars in the mv program right now like a Hinds or Kevin Jones or Jonathan Mitchell. I loved Cousins’ game, but for the purposes of this conversation he was not a superstar in 8th or 9th grade like the rest of mv’s recent big time players.
My point initially is that the Junior Knights do a great job developing their young players at an early age. Evidence of that is e large amount of freshman at MV over the last decade who have been on the varsity and contributed. The kids are obviously being taught well and developing well at an early age and showing up as a freshman as strong players. This is not even debatable.
Spring Valley is 9-1 with a starting lineup completely made up of Sophomore’s?
That’s incredible folks. Just a thought.
Reality Check,
You are wrong. Jarrel Marshall & Isaiah Cousins didnt get meaningful minutes their sophomore season. In fact, they both racked up multiple DNP’s. it wasnt until the New Rochelle game in the playoffs that they began to get solid minutes. By then the knights had 3 games left.
By Stander,
That is very impressive. I haven’t seen them play yet, but hope to catch them at the County Center. I’ve heard of Mitchell and McGill – how are the other starters?