Myrtle Beach overcomes slow start, beats Georgetown

Much like it has all season long, the Myrtle Beach basketball team found itself fighting uphill Tuesday night.

And in very similar fashion, the Seahawks found a way to pull through.

Needing a win to keep its hopes of a Region VII-AAA title alive, Myrtle Beach overcame a 12-point first half deficit to beat Georgetown, 61-48.

“We really needed to focus on the little things,” Myrtle Beach boys basketball coach Craig Martin said. “Things like executing our offense, executing our defense, not letting the small things get in the way of the big picture, not getting carried away and not panicking.”

It would’ve been easy for Martin and the rest on the Seahawks’ bench to have a case of frayed nerves early on, with Georgetown knocking down four 3-pointers in the opening quarter and staking itself to a 20-8 lead.

“Georgetown came out and played well, seemingly knocking down every shot they took,” Martin said. “But these kids are getting tough … I’m not going to say they’re tough, but getting tougher.”

Myrtle Beach would not make some sort of significant run, overwhelming the Bulldogs in a wave of points. Instead, it would steadily chip away at the lead, eventually getting it down to six by halftime.

“We just stuck with the same mindset we always have,” said Myrtle Beach guard Robert Swanson. “The belief was if we played smart and played together, then the game would come to us.”

The Seahawks scored the first six points of the third quarter to tie the game. Minutes later, the team would claim their first lead of the game, courtesy of a Bryce Schneider lay-in.

It would be a lead Myrtle Beach would inevitably not relinquish, punctuated by a Swanson 3-pointer that gave the Seahawks a double-digit advantage.

“In the second half, it was about execution, we defended better, we contested shots, and the shots we weren’t making in the first half, we started making in the second half,” Martin said.

Schneider’s 16 points were a team-high for the Seahawks. Emery Knox’s 14 points also played a key role in Myrtle Beach picking up the key victory.

Georgetown’s Cavonte Gamble scored a game-high 20 points.

Winners of six straight, the Seahawks find themselves in a three-way tie at the top of Region VII-AAA along with Wilson and North Myrtle Beach – their opponent on Friday night.

According to Martin, there is no place that he would rather be.

“It’s fun, because you never like depending on other teams for your place in the playoff standings,” he said. “You have to take care of business. Even when we went 0-3, we knew we had to win out just to have an opportunity. Now, it’s just taking that next step and taking care of business at North Myrtle Beach.”

This story was originally published February 9, 2016 at 11:56 PM with the headline "Myrtle Beach overcomes slow start, beats Georgetown."