Boys Basketball: North Lawndale too athletic for Dunbar

Updated: February 8, 2012 8:37PM

North Lawndale saw a bigger, taller opponent in Dunbar and knew right away how they were going to attack them.

“We knew they were not comfortable playing an up-and-down game, and we wanted to get them playing faster than they were used to,” North Lawndale guard Davonte Johnson said. “We wanted to get out and attack the basket.”

Guard Anton Singleton scored a team-best 13 points and led four double-figure scorers as the visiting Phoenix used a game-changing 17-2 second half burst to hold the Mightymen 68-57 Wednesday in a first round Public League Playoff game.

The Phoenix advance to meet Bogan in a second-round game on Friday.

Led by senior guard Dejuan Appleberry (18 points, five steals, four assists), Dunbar led by as many as seven points in the first half.

With the Phoenix trailing by 27-20 midway through the second quarter, Singleton caught fire. He drilled a three-pointer from the right wing that fueled his personal run of seven consecutive points. A spectacular Keith Mack block turned into a Kelvin Grayson layup just before the second quarter buzzer that ended an 11-2 run and a 31-29 Phoenix lead at the break.

North Lawndale (15-6) seized control midway through the third quarter. Holding a 38-37 lead, Grayson (10 points) scored eight points during a 9-0 run. Dunbar simply had no answer for the Phoenix’s withering full-court pressure.

North Lawndale force eight turnovers in the quarter, part of 21 turnovers Dunbar committed in the game. Mack, a highly-promising sophomore center, scored six of the Phoenix’s first eight points of the fourth quarter. By the time the smoke cleared, North Lawndale extended the run to 17-2.

The Phoenix led by as many as 20 points (67-47) in the fourth quarter before Dunbar (13-3) made a late run to make the score more respectable. Mack (12 points) also contributed eight rebounds and two blocks.

“It was all getting out and running,” Singleton said. “That’s our style, and that’s what we wanted to do.”

Guard Kyle Odom scored all nine of his points, including a four-point play, in the first quarter. Antoine Smith also contributed 12 points and four rebounds.

James Simmons added 12 points and five rebounds for the Mightymen.

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