[RAYMOND, MS] The Muddy River Counselors and the Laurel Knighthawks faced off on Monday night in a battle of two top teams in the league. The night had four games: 12U boys, 16U boys, 18U girls, and then the 18U boys.
The 12U boys ended with the Laurel Knighthawks coming from behind to win 29-27 in overtime. The 16U boys game was dominated by the Counselors in a 62-34 win. The Lady Hawks cruised to a 65-23 win in the 18U girls game.
The Laurel Knighthawks were coming off of a loss to the Jackson Victors where Kai Welch was out for Laurel. With Welch back, Laurel was looking to defeat the Counselors at Hinds Bee Hall. The Counselors were riding a 4-game winning streak, not having lost since falling short against the Little Rock Flames at the Cross-State Classic.
The game began with a corner three pointer from Luke Sanders. The Counselors ended up going up 8-4 early before they accelerated to a 16-4 lead. Brayden Dry got a driving layup for Laurel to break up the Counselors’ 11-0 run but then Muddy River went on another run, taking a 22-6 lead. The Knighthawks then battled to cut the lead to 22-11 but this is where the Counselors absolutely exploded. Muddy River nailed five more threes in the first quarter to end out the first quarter up 37-16 on the Knighthawks, a Counselors record. Muddy River finished the first quarter with ten three pointers.
Laurel was hoping they had weathered the storm of the Counselors’ hot shooting, but much to their chagrin, the Counselors never let up. Luke Sanders and Rydell Breakfield heated up and the Counslelors hit 50 with five minutes left in the half. They ended the half with a 69-20 lead over the defending MSAHA champions. Luke Sanders had 26 halftime points and Rydell Breakfield had 21. Muddy River outscored Laurel 32-4 in the second period.
For the Counselors, the second half had one goal in mind: to break the single-game scoring record for the team. Previously, the Counselors had scored 86 points on January 12, 2021 against the Hattiesburg Forerunners in Muddy River’s first season.
With running clock throughout the second half, this proved to be a challenge. The Counselors managed to pour in 14 points in the third quarter which left them with an 83-32 lead going into the fourth. On Williams’ move through the lane and layup, the Counselors broke the record. They ended up pushing it out to 92 and beat the Laurel Knighthawks by 53 points.
Luke Sanders and Rydell Breakfield finished with career highs, with 28 and 26 points respectively. The Counselors also set a single-game record for threes with 19 three pointers in a game. They set the new record with a running clock for the entire second half.
With blowouts over the Hattiesburg Forerunners and the Laurel Knighthawks, the Muddy River Counselors are riding high as they sit solidly at the No. 2 spot in the MSAHA behind the 9-1 PCA Paladins.
The Muddy River Counselors (7-2)[4-1] next take the floor on the road against the Hillcrest Christian Cougars in a game where the Cougars will be looking for retribution from the last meeting in which the Counselors won 74-63.
