Harrells takes pair from Coastal
By Alex Riley
Alex.Riley@StarNewsOnline.com
Clayton Hall had seen enough from Spencer Cooke. Early in the first quarter, the Harrells Christian senior found himself wide open under the basket. A bulleted pass gave him an easy look at the goal, but instead of squaring up for a quality shot, Cooke flipped the ball over his head. And the rim.
The airball made an already angry Hall even more so. Cooke was quickly sent to the bench.
"Sometimes I just get caught up in the flow of the game. Coach is just really good about taking you out, sitting you down and calming you down and regrouping," Cooke said.
For the Crusaders, that was a good thing.
Cooke rallied from that dismal moment to record a double-double and lead Harrells Christian in a 70-43 win over the Centurions.
Early in the first period, Hall could have used the sit- down tactic on his entire team.
With a raucous crowd packing the small gym, Coastal Christian (10-14 overall, 2-7 Coastal Rivers) raced out a 15-6 lead.
The senior-night spark came from Richard Wetherill. In his final home game, Wetherill put home the first eight points for the Centurions, firing up his team and the fan base.
"We knew Harrells was going to be one of our tougher opponents and to have them on our senior night was a great opportunity," said Wetherill, who finished with a team-high nine points.
"We used that energy most of the first half. We just couldn't keep it."
Harrells (15-3, 9-0) found its rhythm in the second period, outscoring the Centurions 23-15, just enough to secure a two-point halftime lead.
While Cooke got the personal message delivered during the game, Hall gave the rest of the team a talk at the half.
"Everything's a lot easier when the balls start going in the hole. We didn't make some shots in the first half, but we attacked the basket in the second half. We didn't settle for 3s. Once you get one or two to go in from close range, it becomes easier the further out you get," Hall said.
The Crusaders dominated the third period, outscoring Coastal 25-5 over the eight-minute stretch, including a run of 13 over about four minutes to put the game away.
Cooke's 17 points and 11 rebounds weren't the only bright spot for Harrells as Quate McKinzie rebounded from a four-point first half to finish with a double-double of 14 points and 12 rebounds.
Coastal coach Craig Wheeler pointed to struggles in the paint as a big reason the Centurions couldn't keep pace. After allowing just 31 touches in the post during the first half, Coastal gave up 27 touches in just the third period. The team also struggled to draw fouls down low, going just 4-for-10 from the charity stripe.
"We knew we had to attack the paint. We had to touch the paint more than them," Wheeler said. "We touched the paint more than them in the first half. We let their size intimidate us a little too much in the second."
By Alex Riley
Alex.Riley@StarNewsOnline.com
Clayton Hall had seen enough from Spencer Cooke. Early in the first quarter, the Harrells Christian senior found himself wide open under the basket. A bulleted pass gave him an easy look at the goal, but instead of squaring up for a quality shot, Cooke flipped the ball over his head. And the rim.
The airball made an already angry Hall even more so. Cooke was quickly sent to the bench.
"Sometimes I just get caught up in the flow of the game. Coach is just really good about taking you out, sitting you down and calming you down and regrouping," Cooke said.
For the Crusaders, that was a good thing.
Cooke rallied from that dismal moment to record a double-double and lead Harrells Christian in a 70-43 win over the Centurions.
Early in the first period, Hall could have used the sit- down tactic on his entire team.
With a raucous crowd packing the small gym, Coastal Christian (10-14 overall, 2-7 Coastal Rivers) raced out a 15-6 lead.
The senior-night spark came from Richard Wetherill. In his final home game, Wetherill put home the first eight points for the Centurions, firing up his team and the fan base.
"We knew Harrells was going to be one of our tougher opponents and to have them on our senior night was a great opportunity," said Wetherill, who finished with a team-high nine points.
"We used that energy most of the first half. We just couldn't keep it."
Harrells (15-3, 9-0) found its rhythm in the second period, outscoring the Centurions 23-15, just enough to secure a two-point halftime lead.
While Cooke got the personal message delivered during the game, Hall gave the rest of the team a talk at the half.
"Everything's a lot easier when the balls start going in the hole. We didn't make some shots in the first half, but we attacked the basket in the second half. We didn't settle for 3s. Once you get one or two to go in from close range, it becomes easier the further out you get," Hall said.
The Crusaders dominated the third period, outscoring Coastal 25-5 over the eight-minute stretch, including a run of 13 over about four minutes to put the game away.
Cooke's 17 points and 11 rebounds weren't the only bright spot for Harrells as Quate McKinzie rebounded from a four-point first half to finish with a double-double of 14 points and 12 rebounds.
Coastal coach Craig Wheeler pointed to struggles in the paint as a big reason the Centurions couldn't keep pace. After allowing just 31 touches in the post during the first half, Coastal gave up 27 touches in just the third period. The team also struggled to draw fouls down low, going just 4-for-10 from the charity stripe.
"We knew we had to attack the paint. We had to touch the paint more than them," Wheeler said. "We touched the paint more than them in the first half. We let their size intimidate us a little too much in the second."
