By Thomas Sellers Jr.
On the final day of the 2018 William Osteen Christmas Classic in Millington, the second game of the day appeared to be heading toward a blowout. The Bolton Wildcats surged ahead 35-23 late in the second quarter against the Brighton Cardinals. When the buzzer sounded to complete the first half of action, the Wildcats were ahead 35-26. “We were down 9 at the half,” Brighton Head Coach Stan Gatlin said. “I told the guys at halftime, ‘All we have to do is do our stuff better than they do their stuff and we’ll come out with the win.’” The Brighton players made Gatlin a prophet as the Cardinals outscored Bolton 36-17 to prevail 62-52. The Wildcats controlled the first half of action as the Cardinals were trying to adjust to different lineups. Brighton saw the return of point guard Martez Logan, and shooting guard DeMaryo Gatlin got back into the mix after missing the Covington game the previous week. The Cardinals suffered a 71-35 loss missing three key players out of the rotation. “We were shorthanded,” Gatlin said. “When you go in there with a half loaded gun against a team that talented, it’s going to be a long night. “When you have three of your top players out, the other guys tried to fight,” he added. “But we didn’t give our best effort and they were better than us that night.” Gatlin and the Cardinals refused to allow Bolton to be the better team on Dec. 19. The Wildcats jumped out 9-2 early in the first quarter. Bolton led 16-12 after one period. Then the Wildcats outscored Brighton 19-14 to increase their lead. Brighton’s best statistical three-pointer shooter DeMaryo Gatlin struck with his expertise by draining a triple early in the third quarter to make the score 35-34. After Logan tied the game with a foul shot, the quarter had three more deadlocks. Brighton took the lead for good at the end of the third quarter when Kyran Middlebrooks hit a triple to make the score 44-42. That was the score heading into the fourth quarter. The Cardinals flew away from Bolton with buckets from Curtavious Holmes and Gatlin. Ahead 54-50, Cardinal Anthony Smith closed out things with back-to-back baskets in the paint to make the tally 58-50. Smith and teammate Jordan Dowell added the final four points for the victory. “We are really having to figure out each other’s tendencies,” Gatlin acknowledged. “I’m consistently evaluating and looking at the pluses and minuses of the guys out there. How they are performing together. We’re trying to make sure we’re putting guys in the right spots to minimize their mistakes and to take take advantage of their pluses.
“I am excited about the team as it comes together,” he concluded. “Hopefully we’ll learn more about ourselves next week when we go to Kentucky. We’ll play against two good teams there. We hope to compete in our district and be a strong team in our district.”
