Quincy Shootout: Memphis East goes on 23-point spurt to dispatch Father Tolton

QUINCY — Memphis East scored 23 consecutive points late in the third quarter and early in the fourth quarter to blow open a close game and defeat Father Tolton Catholic from Columbia, Mo., 71-53 on Friday night in the first game of the Quincy Shootout at the Pit.

Neither team led by more than four points in a first half that ended in a 33-33 tie. Father Tolton pulled away slightly, as a basket by Jevon Porter, along with two free throws and a lob basket by Tahki Chievous, put the Trailblazers ahead 47-42 with 2:52 left in the third quarter.

Then Memphis East took command.

The Mustangs, one of the top Class 4A teams in Tennessee, scored the last points of the third quarter. They took the lead at 48-47 on a hook shot in the lane by Markese Washington, the only senior on the roster, with six seconds left in the quarter.

Memphis East then a 3-pointer from E.J. Smith and two 3-pointers from Jamarion Harvey as part of a 17-0 run to open the fourth quarter. Father Tolton went scoreless for 7 minutes and 24 seconds before Justin Boyer made a free-throw line jump shot to end the drought.

Harvey led Memphis East with 19 points. Smith had 11, and Washington added 10.

Porter, a younger brother of Michael Porter of the NBA’s Denver Nuggets, had 17 points for the Trailblazers, who turned the ball over 18 times.