For Lloyd Memorial, the formula is pretty simple.
Hold the opponent under 50 points and win a lot of basketball games.
The Juggernauts did it again on Saturday in the St. Elizabeth Healthcare 9th Region Tournament quarterfinals, taking down Ryle 51-46.
When Lloyd holds the opponent under 50 points, they’re 13-1 this season. During their current 14-game winning streak, they’ve held the opposition under 50 nine times.
“We hang our hat on defense,” Juggernauts coach Mike Walker said. “That’s something we do. Defense is what drives our offense. If we play great defense, our offense will come along.”
Opening the game, it was a wonder if Ryle was even going to get to 40. Lloyd opened with a 12-0 lead nearly four minutes into the game, Ryle’s Landon Lorms finally getting the goose egg off the scoreboard with a jumper at the 4:09 mark. Lloyd used that start for a 16-5 end of first quarter lead.
It was Lloyd’s turn to be held scoreless for the first four minutes of a quarter in the second, Jayden Humphrey’s layup finally ending the drought. But Ryle missed their opportunity to inch closer, held to just two points themselves for the quarter at that point. Lloyd took a 22-16 lead into halftime.
They remained comfortably ahead as they stretched the lead to 14 in the third at 35-21 and building a 38-27 advantage into the fourth. Ryle started making things interesting in the fourth as they opened on a 7-0 run to get within four.
The two would trade buckets from there over the next four minutes until a 4-0 Lloyd spurt got them up 46-38 with less than 1:30 to play. Lorms and the Raiders kept battling, a 3-point play from the senior followed by a Lorms triple with a foul made it 50-46 with 18.1 seconds remaining. Lorms was unable to convert the four-point play attempt, Lloyd able to close the door from there.
Lloyd was led by EJ Walker’s double-double of 19 points and 10 rebounds while also dishing out four assists. When things got tight, Walker helped provide the punch, especially in the second half with 17 points.
“A lot of my teammates they know the type of player that I am. They know when we need a score most of the time they go to me, but they know if I drive and I’m trying to score, it’s gonna open up for everybody else,” EJ Walker said. “I’m the type of person that will pass to open teammates. So I feel like they know if I get going, it’s gonna open up for them.”
Jayden Humphrey added 16 points and seven rebounds, playing a big role in the fast start for the Juggernauts with 12 first half points.
Anthony Blaackar tossed in 10 points to go with six assists. The Juggernauts had 14 assists on 22 made field goals.
“Just team basketball. That’s what we strive for on any given night. Who cares who scores as long as we win,” Mike Walker said.
For Ryle, it was a bad night to have a bad shooting night. They hit just 31% of their shots from the field and 2-of-22 from the 3-point line.
“That’s basketball,” Raiders coach Nick Dorning said. “Sometimes that’s the way the basketball bounces. We’ve had a couple games like that this year. Coming in we had three keys, felt like we took care of the basketball, rebounded the basketball and last, put the ball through the bottom of the net. Just constantly playing from behind.”
Landon Lorms led the way with 26 points, scoring 21 of their 30 second half points. His valiant effort came up just short as he ends his career as one of the most decorated athletes in Ryle High School history. Not only does he leave as the program’s all-time leading scorer, but the football program’s all-time leading receiver in yards and touchdowns.
“It’s just the work I put in and all glory to God,” Lorms said. “I wouldn’t be where I am without him. He gives me my strength, my personality, everything in me. My family, my teammates, they gave me everything I could ask for and helped me along while I was doing those great things. It’s a record for them, too.”
AJ Davis followed with eight points, Jonathan DeGroff adding six points and 15 rebounds. The Raiders graduate four seniors, Lorms, DeGroff, Ryan Handorf and Austin Zmurk.
“It was an emotional locker room,” Dorning said. “When you lose those guys that come in and put the work in every single day and what they brought to our basketball program, great kids with great attitudes and we’re really going to miss them. We’ve got a talented junior and sophomore class that will be chomping at the bit.”
Lloyd will tip it up with Newport in Tuesday’s semifinals at 8 p.m. It’s a team that’s ended their season the past two years.
“Just a basketball game,” Mike Walker said. “We’re not going to go in the past to worry about what’s going to happen in the present and the future.”
PHOTO SLIDESHOW: Lloyd Memorial-Ryle 9th Region tournament quarterfinals (provided by Charles Bolton)
JUGGERNAUTS 51, RAIDERS 46
RYLE — 5-11-11-19 — 46
LLOYD — 16-6-16-13 — 51
Scoring
Ryle (46) — Lorms 26, Davis 8, DeGroff 6, Smith 4, Coppola 2
Lloyd (51) — Walker 19, Humphrey 16, Blaackar 10, Golsby 2, Copeland 2, Lewis 2
Game Stats
Field Goals: Ryle 17/54, Lloyd 22/48
3-Pointers: Ryle 2/22, Lloyd 1/9
Free Throws: Ryle 10/16, Lloyd 6/11
Rebounds: Ryle 35, Lloyd 35
Assists: Ryle 3, Lloyd 14
Steals: Ryle 7, Lloyd 2
Blocked Shots: Ryle 4, Lloyd 2
Turnovers: Ryle 6, Lloyd 7
Records: Ryle 16-13, Lloyd Memorial 25-6
