Home Local Sports Josh Hayward scores 24 for St. Thomas More in loss to Freire...

Josh Hayward scores 24 for St. Thomas More in loss to Freire Charter

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St. Thomas More senior Josh Hayward looks for an opening against Freire Charter. (Dialog photo/Mike Lang)

WILMINGTON — St. Thomas More’s boys basketball team made the trip to Wilmington for a matinee matchup with Freire Charter, but the drive north didn’t agree with the Ravens. Freire used its speed, depth and height to overwhelm the Ravens in the first quarter and went on to an 85-36 win at the H. Fletcher Brown Boys and Girls Club.

The Dragons wasted little time putting significant distance between themselves and the Ravens. Using an aggressive full-court press, Freire scored layup after layup, building a 10-0 lead less than two minutes into the game. By the time Kyle Manuszak got St. Thomas More on the board with a layup after taking a long pass from Xavier Mera, the outcome was not in doubt. But the Ravens kept on plugging.

Kyle Manuszak of St. Thomas More lets a floater go that would become the Ravens’ first points of the game. (Dialog photo/Mike Lang)

Manuszak showed some range, drilling a corner three while standing in front of the Dragons’ bench early in the second. St. Thomas More’s Josh Hayward entered the game late in the first half, and he immediately provided a spark. Hayward nailed a pair of threes in the last 90 seconds of the second quarter.

Hayward’s third triple provided the only points the Ravens would score in the third, and he added to his total in the fourth. He scored 14 points in the final quarter, including going nine of 10 from the free throw line. In addition to another three-pointer, he was fouled three times while shooting from beyond the arc, and he made eight of those attempts.

Hayward, one of the leading scorers in the state, finished with 24. The Ravens (1-15) visit Delmarva Christian on Monday at 6:30 p.m.

Andrew Davis had 32 to lead the Dragons, including six of the team’s 10 three-pointers. Freire is now 9-6 and heads to Wilmington Christian on Tuesday for a 5:15 p.m. tip.