They say you can’t teach size, but you can coach up talent and after years of hard work which have resulted in him being regarded as the top ranked junior in the nation, Wendell Carter Jr. shined on the biggest stage in the Class AA state championship, carrying No. 3 Pace Academy to its first-ever title 65-43 against an overmatched and overpowered No. 10 Manchester Blue Devils.
The Knights didn’t give Manchester any hope of a David vs. Goliath scenario, jumping on the Blue Devils 12-0 to begin the game highlighted by Barrett Baker’s two threes and an And-1 layup. Things quickly got worse when Isaiah Kelly drove and found Carter inside for a two-handed slam.
All night long Manchester had no answer for Carter who demolished the Blue Devils for 30 points (10-of-11 FG), 20 rebounds and three blocks. They tried physical play that boarderlined on dirty led by Bobby Stevenson, a 6-foot-4, 240-pound enforcer, but Carter kept his cool even after he was slow getting up after Stevenson kicked him in the head after going for a loose ball.
Pace Academy led 21-8 at the end of the first quarter. In the second quarter Demarcus Addie tried to rally the Devils and hit a three to make it 34-24, but the Knights quickly added back onto its lead and took a 38-24 advantage into the break.
The third period was low scoring as Manchester closed on a 7-0 run to keep things respectable, winning the quarter 10-9 and trailing 47-34 entering the fourth. Addie scored two of his team-high 14 points to cut the lead to single digits at 47-38 with 6:24 remaining but that was as close as the Blue Devils would get. Baker, who scored 16 points, hit a floater that sparked an 18-5 run to end the game and cap off the Knights’ first title.
Manchester struggled to score against Pace’s larger front line, shooting just 27.1 percent. Leading scorer Demarcus Addie was harassed into 5-of-18 shooting and just 1-for-7 from beyond the arc, Manchester 2-of-19 as a team.
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