Matoaca's Hicks leads victory over Meadowbrook in boys basketball

The action swirled at a furious pace.

Physicality ruled the day.

There, though, amidst the frenzy, cacophony, and mano-a-mano, stood Matoaca’s Peyton Hicks, a lithe, athletic 6-3 sophomore guard whose singular blend of uncommon calmness, a deft shooting touch, masterly court awareness, and fierce competitive spirit sparked the Warriors to a 75-62 victory over Meadowbrook Wednesday in the Monarchs’ Bryan Kane Gymnasium.

Connecting three times from behind the arc, scoring from close range on an assortment of layups and floaters, and hitting 8-of-9 free throws, Hicks, who plays point guard but can post up with equal facility, dropped 29 points on the home team, who defended him tightly and mightily throughout, but to little avail. 

In the Warriors’ 2-3 matchup defense, Hicks plays out front, uses his quickness, footwork, and wingspan to throw opponents off their rhythm, and covers the middle when the ball rotates to the opposite side.

He welcomes and savors his multifaceted responsibilities.

“My role,” he said, “is to make all my teammates better.”

Indeed he did, as the Warriors (4-4) built a double-digit lead in the third quarter, fended off a rally that cut the difference to three points midway through the fourth, then finished with a 15-5 run that included 8-for-8 free-throw accuracy in the final 1:30. 

“Composure and playing under control is the key to the game,” said Matoaca coach Nick Burd. “We passed the ball well: better one-more, better skips, better dump-offs, crisper passes, more accurate passes.

“Defensively, we gave up too many points; however, we protected the paint well in the second half and didn’t give up many points inside.”

Hicks scored eight of his points in the first quarter as the Warriors surged to a 23-16 lead. He added five more in the second to lead his guys into the locker room up 37-31.

He opened the third quarter with two free throws, later hit the second of his three 3-pointers, then banked in a layup after penetrating the Monarchs’ collapsing defense, then headed to the bench at 4:01 with his team leading 48-39 after drawing his fourth foul.

“I wanted to come out aggressive today,” Hicks said. “That’s what I did. Calls don’t always go your way.”

Was repairing to the sideline a bummer?

“It’s not that hard,” Hicks said. “It’s fun watching (my teammates). I’m clapping for them on the bench the whole time.”

While he bided his time, the Warriors actually increased their lead to 54-39 when Derrick Winston scored from close range after receiving a no-look pass from Mason Manuel, who had subbed in for Hicks.

Two late 3-pointers by Braydn Arline (23 points) enabled Meadowbrook (1-6) to close to 55-45 entering the fourth.

As the pace intensified in the final eight minutes and the Monarchs scrapped and clawed to get back in the game, the Warriors’ defense held fast, then bent, but never broke.

“We could have gotten to our stops quicker, communicated more, boxed out better,” said senior guard Dane Newberry, who finished with 17 points and pulled yeoman’s duty on defense. “But we put pressure on them when we needed to.”

Possession-by-possession, the Monarchs whittled away at the Warriors’ lead.

Three buckets by Messiah Jordan (10 points), two by Amir Speights, and one by Kevin Brown closed the gap to 60-57 with 3:27 left.

“We weren’t staying disciplined,” Newberry added. “We weren’t boxing out, so they got second-chance shots and easy layups. We knew what we had to do.”

With the game now on the line, Hicks, who reentered at 5:20, went to work.

He drained a 3 from the left corner at 3:10 for a 63-57 lead, then hit a layup at 2:38 in increase the Warriors’ advantage to eight.

A.J. Stephens scored on a put-back, then began a procession to the foul line that ended with both Javionne King (12 points) and Hicks connecting on 4-of-4 to seal the victory.

“I just have to relax,” Hicks said of the pressure he faced throughout the game. “If I don’t, negative energy brings the whole team down. We don’t want that.

“That’s how they started coming back. I got a little frustrated with all those fouls, but I came back, got my composure, and we won the game.”