HPCA defeats defending champs Asheville
• Michael Lindsay | Enterprise Sports Writer
HIGH POINT — High Point Christian earned a playoff-caliber win early in the season.
The Cougars made a big run midway through the game to turn a deficit into a lead, held on down the stretch and defeated Asheville Christian 72-70 in NCISAA nonconference boys basketball Saturday afternoon at HPCA.
In the girls game, Asheville Christian edged HPCA 47-42.
“I was really proud of how physical we were,” Cougars boys coach Joseph Cooper said. “That’s been a concern through our first few games — can we match other teams’ physicality? We have size, but we’re not the strongest team. But we fought, we competed, we showed a lot of heart out there. So, I’m proud of that.
“Obviously, they’re a good team — the defending 3A state champs. So, we knew it was a big test today to figure out where we are. The kids have exams the week after next, so this was kind of an exam game for us to see where we are and what we can shore up.”
Thomas McIntosh scored 23 points to lead HPCA (5-1), which lost by seven to the Lions in last year’s state semifinals. Isaiah Sanders added 19 points followed by Darius Kane with 12.
“It showed us we can contend with some of the best,” said McIntosh, a 6-foot-6 senior forward. “It was really good at home too — our student section had us going and there was a lot of energy in the building. It was great.
“It’s a great feeling. We beat Asheville School — that was a great team. We beat Asheville Christian. We’re riding high, but we know we still have work to do. We’ve just got to keep putting in the work and we’ll keep getting these wins.”
The Cougars turned a nine-point deficit in the second into a 15-point lead in the third. They scored on their final six possessions of the first half to key a 15-3 run and took a 39-36 lead into halftime.
Then HPCA scored six straight to start the second half. It stretched its lead to 13 on a four-point possession following a technical foul midway through the third and got it to 15 inside the final two minutes of the quarter.
“I think it was the communication on defense,” McIntosh said. “We knew coming in De’Ante Green’s a beast, and if he got cooking it’d be trouble. If we could do our best to make him feel uncomfortable and limit his production — if you limit his production, then you limit the team’s production. We tried to shut him down early and come out with a win.”
Asheville Christian (3-4), which was led by Dante Oliver with 27 points, very nearly clawed from its double-digit hole — scoring on 10 of its 15 possessions in the fourth. It got as close as two twice inside the final minute.
But the Cougars made enough key plays down the stretch to hang on — including a key 3-pointer by Benny Limbacher with four minutes left and free throws by McIntosh, Sanders and Smith.
“Just enough,” Cooper said with a smile. “A championship team only gets to be a champion because they’re resilient — and they certainly were. We knew they’d continue to fight and we needed to close out the game. Obviously those free throws down the stretch were huge. In order to finish off good teams, you’ve got to hit free throws.
“It’s awesome. It’s great to play big games early in the season and kind of find out what you’ve got and what you need to shore up. And to come out with a win and still get those lessons was really good.”
• Michael Lindsay | Enterprise Sports Writer
HIGH POINT — High Point Christian earned a playoff-caliber win early in the season.
The Cougars made a big run midway through the game to turn a deficit into a lead, held on down the stretch and defeated Asheville Christian 72-70 in NCISAA nonconference boys basketball Saturday afternoon at HPCA.
In the girls game, Asheville Christian edged HPCA 47-42.
“I was really proud of how physical we were,” Cougars boys coach Joseph Cooper said. “That’s been a concern through our first few games — can we match other teams’ physicality? We have size, but we’re not the strongest team. But we fought, we competed, we showed a lot of heart out there. So, I’m proud of that.
“Obviously, they’re a good team — the defending 3A state champs. So, we knew it was a big test today to figure out where we are. The kids have exams the week after next, so this was kind of an exam game for us to see where we are and what we can shore up.”
Thomas McIntosh scored 23 points to lead HPCA (5-1), which lost by seven to the Lions in last year’s state semifinals. Isaiah Sanders added 19 points followed by Darius Kane with 12.
“It showed us we can contend with some of the best,” said McIntosh, a 6-foot-6 senior forward. “It was really good at home too — our student section had us going and there was a lot of energy in the building. It was great.
“It’s a great feeling. We beat Asheville School — that was a great team. We beat Asheville Christian. We’re riding high, but we know we still have work to do. We’ve just got to keep putting in the work and we’ll keep getting these wins.”
The Cougars turned a nine-point deficit in the second into a 15-point lead in the third. They scored on their final six possessions of the first half to key a 15-3 run and took a 39-36 lead into halftime.
Then HPCA scored six straight to start the second half. It stretched its lead to 13 on a four-point possession following a technical foul midway through the third and got it to 15 inside the final two minutes of the quarter.
“I think it was the communication on defense,” McIntosh said. “We knew coming in De’Ante Green’s a beast, and if he got cooking it’d be trouble. If we could do our best to make him feel uncomfortable and limit his production — if you limit his production, then you limit the team’s production. We tried to shut him down early and come out with a win.”
Asheville Christian (3-4), which was led by Dante Oliver with 27 points, very nearly clawed from its double-digit hole — scoring on 10 of its 15 possessions in the fourth. It got as close as two twice inside the final minute.
But the Cougars made enough key plays down the stretch to hang on — including a key 3-pointer by Benny Limbacher with four minutes left and free throws by McIntosh, Sanders and Smith.
“Just enough,” Cooper said with a smile. “A championship team only gets to be a champion because they’re resilient — and they certainly were. We knew they’d continue to fight and we needed to close out the game. Obviously those free throws down the stretch were huge. In order to finish off good teams, you’ve got to hit free throws.
“It’s awesome. It’s great to play big games early in the season and kind of find out what you’ve got and what you need to shore up. And to come out with a win and still get those lessons was really good.”
