The Walton Raiders upset host McEachern on Saturday night 87-80 in an exciting, fast-paced duel between two of Scoreatl.com’s top 10 teams overall in the state.
Glen Rice Jr. led the game off with a vicious slam off the opening tip. Rice’s dynamic finish would be a sign of things to come. Both sides contributed exciting plays throughout the game, most notably Walton’s Ryan Harrow and McEachern’s Trae Golden.
Throughout a stretch in the third quarter, Harrow and Golden took turns feeding teammates and making unbelievable shots of their own. Harrow rose seemingly to the top of the gym to dunk an alley-oop while Golden converted several lay-ins after being fouled.
The play of the night might have been a spectacular behind the back fake by Harrow on a 2-on-1 fastbreak that he converted to an easy lay in. Even McEachern fans applauded the amazing move.
Golden, a junior, led all scorers with 36 while N.C. State-commit Harrow poured in 33. Rice tallied 26 for Walton while Colin Reddick and Kadeem Batts each contributed 15 for McEachern.
Early on the game looked like it would be a blowout in Walton’s favor, as the Raiders took command from the get-go on Rice’s dunk then managed to build a 44-26 lead late in the first half.
But Golden would not let the game get away from his team. The junior guard was instrumental in a key 8-0 run late in the third that was culminated by a Reddick dunk off an amazing behind-the-back assist by the one-time Ohio State-commit. During the run, Golden scored six of the eight points.
The run led to an exciting back-and-forth final quarter, as both teams made big shots during the frantic stanza. During a 35-second portion of the half, Golden nailed a three and assisted on a lay-in, then Walton’s Gerald Williams drilled an open three only to be upstaged by Golden who converted a three-point play just seconds later. The scoring frenzy took place between the 6:35 mark of the third quarter and the six-minute mark. When the binge ended, McEachern trailed by just three points.
However, Walton was too steadfast for the Indians to come any closer. Glen Rice hit a clutch three with 2:30 left to give the Raiders an 83-77 lead.
From there, seldom-used senior guard Michael Storey hit two free throws to ice the game.
No. 2 McEachern saw its season end while the No. 9 Raiders advance to take on Norcross on March 4 (rankings are according to the Scoreatl.com/GPB pre-tournament rankings).
Black can be reached at sblack@scoreatl.com.
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