Dressed in all black suits, Mullins Head coach Mark Gerald and his coaching staff of Jimmy Vereen, Kevin Edwards and Herman Waters arrived at last week’s Pepsi Carolina Classic Tournament championship against the top ranked team in Class 3A Wilson Tigers. The previous night the Aucs had cruised to a 10-point victory over the second ranked team in the class in Lower Richland.
Obviously, the players and coaches alike meant business.
“A championship game or a big game, we tell the coaches we’re wearing all black,” Gerald said. “Then we tell the kids if they see us coming in with all black on, we’re not messing around.
The Tigers weren’t messing around either. Down 20-16 in a lethargic first half of basketball, Mullins came alive defensively and the shots that were coming close but short began to fall through the net, resulting in a 34-27 advantage heading into the final quarter.
“We started slow and I think the first half we were kind of waiting for Darnell to get hot and duplicate what he did the previous game,” he said. “At halftime I told them he’s not going to do that every night, we have to go out, play and run the team.”
Gerald said to start, point guard Chris Harley had to make things happen off the dribble.
“The press kicked in the beginning of the third quarter,” Gerald said of the momentum swing that resulted in an 18-2 run in the third quarter. “I tell our kids, as long as they’re not scoring lay ups, we’re going to keep pressing and sooner or later it will kick in and we’ll get three or four steals in-a-row.”
The high intensity defense helped Mullins gain control and eventually pull through in overtime for the 52-46 victory.
“Our kids just held on,” Gerald said. “I like that. I like the heart they showed out there.”
Gerald said his team could’ve gave up and he’s proud of their effort.
The tournament event became a practice run for a squad eager to return to Florence for the lower state finals games at the Civic Center and third state championship appearance in four years.
“They did a good job getting the best teams in this area,” Gerald said. “It’s great for our kids.”
Scorers for the Mullins in the championship game were Chris Harley 21, Darnell Coleman 12, Tyre Constant 9, Johnathan Jenkis 6, Alex Brown 3 and Bernard Jones 1.
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