Byrd off to 2-1 start; Mankin scores 39 in OT win over Salem
The William Byrd boys are off to a good start in basketball. Byrd won two of three games to open the season, including a thrilling overtime home-opening win against Salem last Friday night.
Mike Hammond of William Byrd shoots from the corner in last week's win over Salem. - Photo by Brian Hoffman
Senior Jake Mankin was spectacular for Byrd in the opening week. In the first three games he scored 85 points, averaging 28 points per game. It will be a tough average to keep up, and he’s going to need a little help as Jake has scored over half of Byrd’s 166 total points.
“Obviously Jake can’t score 39 points every night,” said Byrd coach David Culicerto, referring to his total against Salem. “Teams won’t allow that. They’ll play junk defenses on him and make it tough for him. We need to get some scoring from somewhere else.”
In Friday’s home opener against Salem, they really didn’t need to. Mankin scored all 18 of Byrd’s points in the fourth period, then came back from a twisted knee to lead the Terriers to the overtime win.
“It was one of the better games we’ve had around here in quite some time,” said Culicerto. “He was the one guy we had who was putting the ball in the basket.”
Salem had no answers for Mankin.
“He played a good game,” said Salem coach Kevin Garst of the 6’4” Terrier forward. “He doesn’t have a ton of weaknesses. He’s tall and can score around the basket, he can put it on the floor, and he pulls up really well.”
Mankin outscored Salem himself, 18-13, in the fourth quarter to send the game into overtime. It almost ended in regulation, but Salem’s Bud Tolliver was fouled while shooting a three and he hit all three to tie the game with four seconds remaining.
Mankin took a desperation shot at the fourth quarter buzzer. He missed, and twisted his knee in doing so. Jake sat out as the players jumped it up to start the overtime, but he returned and picked up where he left off as Byrd pulled out the win.
“He finished the deal,” said Garst. “He’s a good player.”
Salem led 32-20 at the half before Byrd rallied. The Terriers crashed the offensive boards and outrebounded Salem, 36-28, for the game despite being shorter and less athletic than the Spartans.
“There’s no excuse for that,” said Garst. “They killed us on the offensive board. That’s just positioning and hustle.”
Byrd shot 41 percent for the game but only 57 percent from the line, and Mankin was 12 for 15. Byrd had 19 turnovers and Salem had 18, all unforced as the Spartans had 10 steals and Byrd had none.
“That was a good early season game,” said Culicerto. “There was a lot of stuff going on out there, and anytime we beat Salem it’s a good win. We don’t beat them very often.”
The win came just two days after Byrd lost their season opener at Cave Spring, 58-38. Byrd had just nine points in the first half as the Terriers fell behind by 16 at intermission. Mankin finished with 23 points but no one else had more than five. Tyriek Talley had five rebounds.
“It was a typical first game, with a lot of mistakes,” said Culicerto. “Cave Spring has a very good team.”
On Tuesday Byrd took a 1-1 record to Glenvar, where former Terrier assistant Adam Gray is the new head coach. Byrd almost let a 17 point lead slip away before hanging on for a 65-61 win. The Highlanders outscored Byrd 28-15 in the fourth quarter and had the lead down to three with seconds remaining.
“We had the big lead and we started taking some bad shots,” said Culicerto. “They started fouling us and we missed our free throws, and if we fouled them they made theirs’. But our boys kept their composure and got out of there with a win.”
Mankin had 23 to lead Byrd and Ben Hayden had 10. Scott Cole had nine, Derrick Palmer returned to the lineup and had seven, and Talley also had seven.
Now 2-1, Byrd will be home to Cave Spring on Friday, then return the trip to Salem on Monday. During Monday’s game at Salem the Spartans will honor their 1994 and 1999 state champions at halftime, but don’t expect coach Garst, a member of the ’94 team, to be out there taking bows. He’ll busy in the locker room trying to figure out a way to stop Mankin.
