Yates hits 100 again in win over Sharpstown

Yates standout Joe Young had a game-high 27 points and Brandon Peters added 17 to lead the Lions to a convincing 107-66 victory over Sharpstown Tuesday night at Butler Fieldhouse.

Yates (23-0, 9-0 District 21-4A) has won 47 straight and racked up its 15th 100-point plus game this season by smothering its opponents with intense full-court presses and stingy man-to-man defense.

“At this point, we are getting ourselves ready for the playoffs and our guys are coming out here with that sense of urgency from the beginning of the game and on through the third quarter defensively,” Yates coach Greg Wise said. “We work on our presses, but we’ve intensified our man-to-man defense because that’s going to be important in the playoffs.”

Darius Gardner chipped in 12 points for the Lions. Jonathan Chapman led the Apollos (15-9, 7-3), who had a three-game win streak snapped, with 14 points, and Ricky George had 13.

Yates led by 26 in the first half behind the aggressive play of Young, who took his game above the rim with three resounding two-handed dunks. For the icing on the cake, the Providence commit dribbled out the final 8 seconds of the second period and nailed a long three-pointer from the top of the key at the buzzer to put Yates up 58-32.

Sharpstown was able to attack the Lions’ press with some effective ball handling by the backcourt duo of Brandon Phillips and George. Steven Maeweather and Chapman combined for 15 of the Apollos’ 32 first half points on layups and drop-step moves in the paint.

Yates capped a 12-3 run in the third on a three-point play by Young with 5:48 remaining. Sharpstown’s George connected on three of six shots at the free throw line in the final two minutes of the quarter to force the Lions to ease up on the press to avoid costly fouls.

Yates crossed the 100-point threshold on a fast-break layup by Clyde Santee to go up 101-58 with less than three minutes remaining in the fourth. The Lions then switched to cruise control, clearing the way for the bench players, who were outscored 12-6 by the Apollos down the stretch.

With four regular season games left on the schedule, Yates has a good chance to end the season with 19 games over the century mark, an impressive feat, but unimportant to Wise.

“I don’t know how many more times we’ll get to 100 points, but that’s not our focus. We just want to make sure