Daeqwon Plowden helps Mastery North swat away Gratz

With a double-digit lead in hand, Mastery North senior Daeqwon Plowden made a play during Thursday's third quarter that summed up the Pumas' 62-51 Public League Liberty Division victory over Simon Gratz.

Plowden, a 6-foot-5, Bowling Green signee, fell down after shooting a corner jump shot that was quickly rebounded by the Bulldogs, who almost immediately started a fastbreak.

The long-striding Plowden, however, got to his feet, sprinted down court and ferociously blocked a layup attempt out of bounds to thunderous applause.

"It was just getting back on D," Plowden undersold with a shrug. "I didn't want to give up an easy play, so I wanted to get back up and hustle back on D."

He was whistled for a foul and thus not credited with a block, but the play was emblematic of the Pumas' aggressive, relentless defense, which stifled the Bulldogs for long stretches.

Plowden finished with six blocks. He also finished with 10 points, eight rebounds and postgame praise from his coach.

"It's loyalty," said Terrance "Nip" Cook of Plowden's hustle play. "That's loyalty and hard work coming from an excellent kid. He always gives you everything."

Eli Alvin led the Pumas (20-0, 10-0) with 16 points, while Rahmir Moore added 13 more, plus seven rebounds.

"Once we see a block like that," said Alvin, a senior, "especially such an athletic block, we all just get hype and it brings the momentum up. It's always good to get a nice block."

Alvin, a 5-foot-11 lefty, added some momentum of his own after a coast-to-coast sequence in the fourth quarter that started with him snatching a defensive rebound and ended with his feisty, lefthanded dunk.

"I've been at Mastery Charter for four years, so there's a lot of guys looking up to me," Alvin said when asked about his leadership role. "I want to set a good example for the younger guys [we have now] and the other guys coming in."

Gratz (10-7, 8-2), also part of the Mastery Charter umbrella, was led by Rashon Johnson's 15 points. Kyon Gordon added 12 more, but a six-point second quarter dug the Dogs a 29-18 deficit at halftime.

The Pumas' lead ballooned to 18 points in the third quarter before Gratz made a modest run late.

"[We] were just up for it," Cook said. "It's a rivalry thing. Mastery-Mastery game. Good for the school. Good for the history of the school. We respect Gratz, so we came out and we had to play hard because with this history anything can happen."

Mastery North 15 14 22 11 - 62

Simon Gratz 12 6 17 16 - 51

MN: Daeqwon Plowden 10, Eli Alvin 16, Kareem Hicks 6, Jamir Reed 3, Rodney Phillips 6, Harold Daily 8, Rahmir Moore 13.

G: Rashon Johnson 15, Johnny Eden 6, Malik Greene 9, Kyon Gordon 12, Quadri Blount 2, Yasir Slover 7.