Eagles survive Asheville Christian and advance in NCISAA tournament
CONCORD – After a long layoff following their Metrolina Athletic Conference Tournament championship, cfa Academy boys basketball coach Frank Cantadore II wasn’t surprised to see his team show some rust offensively in its first game back Saturday afternoon.
Thank goodness for Cantadore his team’s defense did not follow the offense’s lead.
The Eagles, No. 2 in the latest Cream of Cabarrus rankings, used a lockdown perimeter defense to shut down Asheville Christian Academy, 55-44, in the NCISAA quarterfinals.
The Eagles advance to Saturday’s state semifinals at Raleigh’s Ravenscroft School.
“I told the guys that right now, it’s just about surviving,” Cantadore said of Saturday’s win. “We’re not going out there playing to get better like we had been in every game this season. Right now, we’re going out there to survive. And we survived tonight.”
The Eagles held the Lions to just two 3-point baskets, and none over the final 3½ quarters. It was the third-fewest points the Lions (19-13) scored all season.
“(Asheville) is a 3-point shooting team,” Cantadore said. “We knew that. But the way the guys played defense, talking through screens, it was good to see.”
The Eagles, who themselves only hit two 3-point field goals in the game, led by as many as nine points in the first half, getting inside all game long against the Lions. Ten points in the first half for the Eagles came off second-chance opportunities.
But cfa’s inability to score consistently nearly cost the Eagles in the second half, as ACA battle back to take a three-point lead midway through the third quarter. But trailing 32-29, the Eagles scored the final eight points of the third quarter to take command again and then closed out the game by outscoring the Lions 18-12 in the fourth quarter.
Trae Benham’s 3-pointer midway through the fourth quarter was the last field goal of the game for cfa, as it went 9-for-12 from the free throw line to help wrap up the victory.
Cantadore said he isn’t worried about the issues on offense being anything more than the result of a nine-day layoff between games.
“We will button up some of the little mistakes,” Cantadore said. “I’ve seen what we’ve done all season long. You have games like this sometimes. But I’ll have a game like this with a win all day long.”
CONCORD – After a long layoff following their Metrolina Athletic Conference Tournament championship, cfa Academy boys basketball coach Frank Cantadore II wasn’t surprised to see his team show some rust offensively in its first game back Saturday afternoon.
Thank goodness for Cantadore his team’s defense did not follow the offense’s lead.
The Eagles, No. 2 in the latest Cream of Cabarrus rankings, used a lockdown perimeter defense to shut down Asheville Christian Academy, 55-44, in the NCISAA quarterfinals.
The Eagles advance to Saturday’s state semifinals at Raleigh’s Ravenscroft School.
“I told the guys that right now, it’s just about surviving,” Cantadore said of Saturday’s win. “We’re not going out there playing to get better like we had been in every game this season. Right now, we’re going out there to survive. And we survived tonight.”
The Eagles held the Lions to just two 3-point baskets, and none over the final 3½ quarters. It was the third-fewest points the Lions (19-13) scored all season.
“(Asheville) is a 3-point shooting team,” Cantadore said. “We knew that. But the way the guys played defense, talking through screens, it was good to see.”
The Eagles, who themselves only hit two 3-point field goals in the game, led by as many as nine points in the first half, getting inside all game long against the Lions. Ten points in the first half for the Eagles came off second-chance opportunities.
But cfa’s inability to score consistently nearly cost the Eagles in the second half, as ACA battle back to take a three-point lead midway through the third quarter. But trailing 32-29, the Eagles scored the final eight points of the third quarter to take command again and then closed out the game by outscoring the Lions 18-12 in the fourth quarter.
Trae Benham’s 3-pointer midway through the fourth quarter was the last field goal of the game for cfa, as it went 9-for-12 from the free throw line to help wrap up the victory.
Cantadore said he isn’t worried about the issues on offense being anything more than the result of a nine-day layoff between games.
“We will button up some of the little mistakes,” Cantadore said. “I’ve seen what we’ve done all season long. You have games like this sometimes. But I’ll have a game like this with a win all day long.”
