Kenneth Coleman knows what his Port Arthur Memorial Titans are good at this year.

The team likes to run on offense and play pressure defense.

Both were on display Wednesday in a 67-53 win over West Brook in the semifinals of the James Gamble Classic.

Memorial faces Lake Charles Washington Marion at 7 p.m. tonight. It is the fourth straight trip to the finals for the Titans.

“It was the difference,” Coleman said of the Titans’ defensive pressure. “They never got comfortable and that was my plan from the beginning.

Marion reached the finals after defeating Kelly 74-53. Kelly was coming off an emotional comeback win over Central in the quarterfinals.

Central led Kelly 20-8 after the first quarter and took a 33-23 lead into halftime.
The Bulldogs rallied and won 56-53.

Memorial (11-4) got 13 points from both Deon Williams and Thailan Weasley in its win over the Bruins.

Darion Chatman finished with 11 points. He has racked up 32 assists in two games during the tournament.

Curley Alexander led the Bruins with 21 points and teammate Clayton Carpenter pitched in nine.

“I think we were able to push the pace for the most part,” Coleman said. “When it was time to be patient I think we were impatient a lot. We have to get better from one speed and slowing it down when we need to slow it down.”

Memorial had a 19-11 lead after the first quarter. Chatman had seven points in the game’s first eight minutes and Tyler Guidry put in six.

Williams got hot in the second quarter with nine points as the Titans took a 38-26 lead into halftime.

West Brook came back strong in the third with 21 points and closed to within 57-47 heading into the final frame.

There was not too much to worry about in the fourth as the Titans took a page out of West Brook coach Andre Boutte’s book by playing most of it in the four corners.

Memorial did a lot of passing in the quarter to let the clock run and come out with a win.

Marion is a team that mirrors Memorial in a lot of ways with how the Indians like to fly around the court. The team is averaging 74.5 points a game in its two contests during the tournament.

“I don’t know if they can be pressed but we are going to press them,” Coleman said. “How they handle it, we will see. We may have to switch up presses.”
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Gabriel Pruett: 721-2436. Twitter: @PaNewsGabe