Wesleyan falls in state championship
Michael Lindsay | HPE
Wesleyan Christian's Harry Giles, right, drives to the basket against Greensboro Day's Trevor Mayo during the NCISAA 3A state championship Saturday at the Asheville School.
ASHEVILLE -In the end, playing without Kwe Parker, one of their top players, in recent weeks was too much for the Wesleyan Christian boys to overcome.
The top-seeded Trojans went 14 minutes without a field goal and made just four shots from the field in the second half in falling to second-seeded Greensboro Day 44-34 in the NCISAA 3A state championship Saturday afternoon at the Asheville School.
"It was a great season for us," coach Keith Gatlin said. "Unfortunately, we picked a bad time not to score the ball. We scored 18 points in the first half and 16 in the second half. You can't beat anybody like that.
"Kwe's foot injury came back to haunt us. We've been hit with the injury bug the last few years, and it proved too much for us tonight with the pressure and we didn't have another guard to relieve Brandon (Childress). So, it took a lot out of us."
Harry Giles, facing double-teams much of the game, scored 11 points to lead Wesleyan (29-5), which has been without Parker since he suffered a broken foot against Greensboro Day on Feb. 3. Jalen Johnson followed with 10 points.
Will Dillard scored 12 points to lead the Bengals (33-3), who won their fourth 3A championship and eighth overall. Darius Moore also scored nine points, as Greensboro Day outscored the Trojans 27-16 in the second half.
Wesleyan, which won the previous two 3A titles, led 18-11 on a 3-pointer by Johnson with 4:55 left in the second quarter. But it wasn't until 6:54 remaining in the fourth that, on a layup by Giles, it scored again from the floor.
And, by then, the Bengals led 29-25 after building a six-point lead to start the fourth quarter. Wesleyan did get within 29-27 with 5:40 left. But Greensboro Day answered with six straight points to begin a 10-2 run to lead 39-29 with 1:52 left in the game to seal it.
"We picked up the pressure on them, forced some turnovers and got those quick baskets that put us up," said Bengals coach Freddy Johnson, in his 38th year. "... I thought our other kids came in and played really well off the bench. I'm just so proud of them. It was a total team effort."
Giles and Parker were chosen to the 10-player NCISAA 3A All-State team, as was High Point Christian's Michael Provenzano.
Wesleyan, which won the PACIS after splitting its regular-season meetings with the Bengals, led 13-11 after the first quarter and 18-17 at halftime. But the combination of it going cold and the Bengals converting in the second half proved too much.
"It's always disappointing whenever you lose," Gatlin said. "But we have nothing to be ashamed of. We made it to the state championship, finished number one in our conference and had a great year on the national scene. We just got hit with the injury bug at the wrong time."
Michael Lindsay | HPE
Wesleyan Christian's Harry Giles, right, drives to the basket against Greensboro Day's Trevor Mayo during the NCISAA 3A state championship Saturday at the Asheville School.
ASHEVILLE -In the end, playing without Kwe Parker, one of their top players, in recent weeks was too much for the Wesleyan Christian boys to overcome.
The top-seeded Trojans went 14 minutes without a field goal and made just four shots from the field in the second half in falling to second-seeded Greensboro Day 44-34 in the NCISAA 3A state championship Saturday afternoon at the Asheville School.
"It was a great season for us," coach Keith Gatlin said. "Unfortunately, we picked a bad time not to score the ball. We scored 18 points in the first half and 16 in the second half. You can't beat anybody like that.
"Kwe's foot injury came back to haunt us. We've been hit with the injury bug the last few years, and it proved too much for us tonight with the pressure and we didn't have another guard to relieve Brandon (Childress). So, it took a lot out of us."
Harry Giles, facing double-teams much of the game, scored 11 points to lead Wesleyan (29-5), which has been without Parker since he suffered a broken foot against Greensboro Day on Feb. 3. Jalen Johnson followed with 10 points.
Will Dillard scored 12 points to lead the Bengals (33-3), who won their fourth 3A championship and eighth overall. Darius Moore also scored nine points, as Greensboro Day outscored the Trojans 27-16 in the second half.
Wesleyan, which won the previous two 3A titles, led 18-11 on a 3-pointer by Johnson with 4:55 left in the second quarter. But it wasn't until 6:54 remaining in the fourth that, on a layup by Giles, it scored again from the floor.
And, by then, the Bengals led 29-25 after building a six-point lead to start the fourth quarter. Wesleyan did get within 29-27 with 5:40 left. But Greensboro Day answered with six straight points to begin a 10-2 run to lead 39-29 with 1:52 left in the game to seal it.
"We picked up the pressure on them, forced some turnovers and got those quick baskets that put us up," said Bengals coach Freddy Johnson, in his 38th year. "... I thought our other kids came in and played really well off the bench. I'm just so proud of them. It was a total team effort."
Giles and Parker were chosen to the 10-player NCISAA 3A All-State team, as was High Point Christian's Michael Provenzano.
Wesleyan, which won the PACIS after splitting its regular-season meetings with the Bengals, led 13-11 after the first quarter and 18-17 at halftime. But the combination of it going cold and the Bengals converting in the second half proved too much.
"It's always disappointing whenever you lose," Gatlin said. "But we have nothing to be ashamed of. We made it to the state championship, finished number one in our conference and had a great year on the national scene. We just got hit with the injury bug at the wrong time."
