Tigers heave Hawks, stay undefeated

NEW LONDON -- It was all Tigers on Tuesday night in New London. The unbeaten and fourth-ranked New London boys' basketball team wiped out Central Lee 73-29 to complete the season sweep of the Hawks.

New London was rolling early. Senior guard Isaac McSorley was scoring at will, dropping 13 points in the first eight minutes. The Tigers led 22-7 after one quarter and never let up.

The Tigers put up 19 points in the second quarter and held Central Lee to just seven, for the second straight period. Keontae Luckett put up six points in the second quarter and the Tigers held a 41-14 at halftime.

New London continued to pour it on in the third quarter. The Tigers outscored the Hawks 20-6 in the third quarter, led by seven more points by McSorley.

The Tigers were able to rotate in the entire bench in both the third and fourth quarters. New London still outscored Central Lee 12-9 in the final quarter as they cruised to their 11th win of the year.

It was the second-straight blowout victory over a conference foe. New London topped Cardinal 71-19 on Friday.

'The last two games, we played teams that were down a little bit, and you tend to play down to those teams, but the maturity I've seen from them the last two weeks makes me think they are growing up a little bit,” New London head coach Bryant Porter said after the win. 'They stick to the plan. They do what they need to do. I'm pretty proud of them right now.”

McSorley finished Tuesday night's game with 25 to lead all scorers. Mason Porter had 12 to give the Tigers two double-digit scorers.

Luckett finished the night with eight points. Grant Swanson scored seven. Darius Whaley had six. Jalen Birdsell and Dylan Smith both put up five. Tyler Henecke had three, and Caydin Wahls had two.

In Friday's win over Cardinal, Luckett led the way with 20 points. Swanson had 16. Whaley and Porter both scored eight. Birdsell had seven. Henecke scored five, and Smith had three.

New London will now focus on a tough road ahead. Over the next two weeks, New London will play at Danville, at Mt. Pleasant and against Don Bosco in the Wells Fargo shootout in Cedar Rapids. Coach Porter says the tough schedule is exactly what he wants for his first place squad.

'I wouldn't have it any other way,” Porter said. 'I'm pretty confident in my team's ability to put all that stuff aside and play ball.”