The Muddy River Counselors strengthened their grip on the #1 seeds in 14UB and 16UB Thursday night with wins over the Hattiesburg Forerunners.
The Counselors had taken a 29-0 lead after the first quarter when the two teams met in Hattiesburg for 14UB. Thursday night, the Counselors had a more gradual blowout. Muddy River ended up taking a 51-17 blowout win to advance to 5-0 in 14U play. Drew Garza had a career night, pitching in 7 points in the ball game. Sun Michael Williams and Caleb Sanders both hit double figures, Williams with 12 and Sanders with 13.
The Counselors were without Kaleb Drane and Tyrese Brown on Thursday night. Drane’s height was greatly missed in the 16U game. Yet, the Counselors took a 16-4 lead after the first quarter, and a 30-12 halftime lead. In the third quarter, the Counselors went cold, scoring only 4 points in the quarter. Behind valiant efforts from Michael Barnes and Jake Reaves, the Forerunners brought the lead to within 7 points. At that point, the Counselors exploded. Caleb Sanders scored 8 of his 16 points in the final quarter and the Muddy River Counselors wrapped it up in chocolate brown and cream gold with a 51-33 win over the Hattiesburg Forerunners.
In the 18U games, the Counselors have had challenges but have competed closely with the best teams in the conference. But in the younger games, Muddy River has advanced to 14-0 after Thursday night. The Counselors have all but secured the top seed in the 14U standings. But the Counselors have to keep their eye on the PCA Paladins, who are also undefeated, but have only played two games.
The Counselors will take on the Tupelo Titans at home on Saturday morning with 14U and 18U games. Tip-off for 14U will begin at 10:00 AM.
