Henderson Collegiate eviscerates St. Thomas More Academy
• By Brandon White bwhite@hendersondispatch.com;
HENDERSON -- In an early-season stretch dominated by tough non-conference tests, Henderson Collegiate enjoyed their easiest matchup so far on Friday night.
St. Thomas More Academy proved to be no match for Henderson Collegiate. They were shut out in the opening quarter and only put up a total of 19 points compared to the 87 Henderson Collegiate accumulated through all four quarters.
Head coach George Marshall was thrilled to see his players continue their momentum from Tuesday’s hard-fought win over Crossroads Christian but was even more pleased that no major flaws in the team’s approach surfaced even after the game was well in control.
“Everyone did what they were supposed to do,” Marshall said. “In games like these, sometimes I get upset because we don’t do what we’re supposed to do but we held [St. Thomas More] to 19. There was no lack of intensity or focus, so I’m very proud of the way they played.”
All of Henderson Collegiate’s primary contributors made an impact on the floor.
Senior Jarrod Small led all scorers for Henderson Collegiate with 18 points while also tallying 10 rebounds. Three other members of the starting lineup in junior Ellis Williams along with seniors T.J. Ragland and Jaedon Whitaker joined Small with double-digit point totals.
With Henderson Collegiate putting the game out of St. Thomas More’s reach at the end of the first quarter, Marshall used the final three quarters to give the rest of his rotation significant minutes and gauge their overall development.
Senior Presley Hunter only registered two points but established a strong presence underneath the rim with five rebounds, four of which came on defense. Junior Jayden Terry also enjoyed a solid evening off the bench and finished with nine points.
The most significant contribution Marshall received from his reserves came in the form of junior Jhalil Fritz. When Ragland, Small and the rest of the starting five began to get rest, Fritz took command of the offense by being the second leading scorer on the night with 16 points and tying Hunter in rebounds.
“Jhalil is in a great place right now,” Marshall said. “This was his best game of the year by far. The most important thing now is for him to keep growing and that starts on defense. With the way everyone else is scoring, he doesn’t need to get ten points. He needs to get ten rebounds and if he can keep guarding people on the perimeter, we’re going to be just fine.”
Marshall has full confidence in the ability of Ragland, Small, Williams, Whitaker and senior Markel Lloyd to execute on both ends of the floor but said that building solid depth is a key towards transforming Henderson Collegiate into a state championship contender again.
The performances of Fritz, Hunter, Terry and others on Friday evening was exactly what Marshall was expecting out of them, who added that continued efficiency in practice and in games will enable them to carve out more minutes in the rotation.
Now that his depth is starting to come into form, Marshall plans to keep expanding his approach to offense and defense with several more difficult non-conference tests coming over the next month.
“We’ve got to get sets in the zone,” Marshall said. “We have a good man-to-man structure and if we can start to really get after it against a zone, we’re going to be in a good place. Teams are going to try and run zone on us but when we shoot like we did tonight, we can break some of that down and attack the middle as well.”
Henderson Collegiate regrouped on Saturday to face Gaston Christian. Their first game of the upcoming week will take place on the road against Greenfield on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m..
• By Brandon White bwhite@hendersondispatch.com;
HENDERSON -- In an early-season stretch dominated by tough non-conference tests, Henderson Collegiate enjoyed their easiest matchup so far on Friday night.
St. Thomas More Academy proved to be no match for Henderson Collegiate. They were shut out in the opening quarter and only put up a total of 19 points compared to the 87 Henderson Collegiate accumulated through all four quarters.
Head coach George Marshall was thrilled to see his players continue their momentum from Tuesday’s hard-fought win over Crossroads Christian but was even more pleased that no major flaws in the team’s approach surfaced even after the game was well in control.
“Everyone did what they were supposed to do,” Marshall said. “In games like these, sometimes I get upset because we don’t do what we’re supposed to do but we held [St. Thomas More] to 19. There was no lack of intensity or focus, so I’m very proud of the way they played.”
All of Henderson Collegiate’s primary contributors made an impact on the floor.
Senior Jarrod Small led all scorers for Henderson Collegiate with 18 points while also tallying 10 rebounds. Three other members of the starting lineup in junior Ellis Williams along with seniors T.J. Ragland and Jaedon Whitaker joined Small with double-digit point totals.
With Henderson Collegiate putting the game out of St. Thomas More’s reach at the end of the first quarter, Marshall used the final three quarters to give the rest of his rotation significant minutes and gauge their overall development.
Senior Presley Hunter only registered two points but established a strong presence underneath the rim with five rebounds, four of which came on defense. Junior Jayden Terry also enjoyed a solid evening off the bench and finished with nine points.
The most significant contribution Marshall received from his reserves came in the form of junior Jhalil Fritz. When Ragland, Small and the rest of the starting five began to get rest, Fritz took command of the offense by being the second leading scorer on the night with 16 points and tying Hunter in rebounds.
“Jhalil is in a great place right now,” Marshall said. “This was his best game of the year by far. The most important thing now is for him to keep growing and that starts on defense. With the way everyone else is scoring, he doesn’t need to get ten points. He needs to get ten rebounds and if he can keep guarding people on the perimeter, we’re going to be just fine.”
Marshall has full confidence in the ability of Ragland, Small, Williams, Whitaker and senior Markel Lloyd to execute on both ends of the floor but said that building solid depth is a key towards transforming Henderson Collegiate into a state championship contender again.
The performances of Fritz, Hunter, Terry and others on Friday evening was exactly what Marshall was expecting out of them, who added that continued efficiency in practice and in games will enable them to carve out more minutes in the rotation.
Now that his depth is starting to come into form, Marshall plans to keep expanding his approach to offense and defense with several more difficult non-conference tests coming over the next month.
“We’ve got to get sets in the zone,” Marshall said. “We have a good man-to-man structure and if we can start to really get after it against a zone, we’re going to be in a good place. Teams are going to try and run zone on us but when we shoot like we did tonight, we can break some of that down and attack the middle as well.”
Henderson Collegiate regrouped on Saturday to face Gaston Christian. Their first game of the upcoming week will take place on the road against Greenfield on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m..
