By Milwaukee King boys basketball standards, they didn't play well against visiting Milwaukee Bay View. Maybe the team is still recovering from the Beach Ball Classic over the holidays in South Carolina. Whatever it was, they didn't play like a No. 2 area team at home.
What could've been an easy blowout win was instead a 52-44 squeaker over the Redecats. Too many turnovers from a team that usually force more than they commit. It was part of the reason the Generals should've won the game by at least 20 points.
About three minutes into the contest, Bay View made two three-pointers to take a 6-0 lead. It looked to be the recipe for the Redcats to spring the upset on the road. Once King warmed up to pressuring Bay View in the first quarter, they rallied and led 29-20 going into the half.
The turnovers from King gave Bay View some momentum in the second half, particularly in the fourth quarter after staring at a 15-point deficit at 38-23. The Redcats capitalized on some of the Generals' mistakes and outscored them in the quarter 21-14, but it was a little too late.
Both Carlin Dupree and Austin Malone-Mitchell didn't disappoint for their teams. Dupree's 14 points for Bay View led all scorers and Malone-Mitchell led King with 12.
The battle in the post between Bay View's Brandon Eckford and King's Chris Robers never happened because Robers was in and out of the game and missed some close baskets around the rim, but he finished with six points. Eckford scored 10 for the Redcats but couldn't stay in the game long enough to help his team mount the upset.
Eckford was already in foul trouble in the first half with three. He was put in the game to start the second half and quickly picked up his fourth after a King player drove the lane and drew contact to Eckford. Coach Tyler Podall lobbied to the referee that Eckford stood his ground.
Instead of Podall taking Eckford out, an easy decision, he let his big man stay in the game. That gamble backfired, and Eckford was out the game with his fifth foul in the third quarter with plenty of time still on the clock.
Dupree tried to pick up as much of the slack as he could, but to no avail. He made a spectacular play late in the fourth quarter when he dunked on two King defenders and raced down the court to block a shot by Robers. With a 12-man rotation, King wore down shorthanded Bay View, who dressed nine players.
The race for the City Conference title will be between King, Vincent, Hamilton and Riverside. Those will be big games when all those teams play each other. Take your pick: There will be enough hype and drama and those games will be filled to capacity.
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