HPCA savors successful season despite title-game loss
BY MICHAEL LINDSAY
ENTERPRISE SPORTS WRITER
HIGH POINT – Winning a championship is a difficult thing to do. A lot of variables have to line up perfectly. And for all but one team, it just doesn’t work out.
High Point Christian put itself in position to win a boys basketball championship. But with its 67-51 loss Saturday against top-seeded Providence Day in the NCISAA 3A final, it just didn’t work out this time.
“We had a phenomenal season,” Cougars coach Brandon Clifford said. “We came up a little bit short of our goal, which was to win a state championship and have a chance to play in the Dick’s High School National Tournament.
“But that’s like a tenth of a percent of what most high schoolers get to do. When you come in what that expectation, this one hurts bad. But, with big-picture things, we had a very good season and I’m proud of my kids.”
The Cougars continued to have success at the state’s highest level. They finished second in the PACIS 2A/3A, which featured four of the state’s top seven teams, and earned a No. 3 seed into the state tournament.
They tied their second-highest seeding in six years as a 3A school and reached the semifinals for the fourth time in the last five years – breaking through with a 51-50 win against rival Greensboro Day to reach their first-ever final.
HPCA also played a number of the country’s top teams – including top-ranked Chino Hills twice and 20th-ranked Providence Day twice – plus won its bracket in the HighSchool OT.com Holiday Invitational and finished with a 24-6 record.
“It was a fun season,” said senior forward Ben Rober tson, a Bucknell recruit. “I mean, we lost to the No. 1 team twice, lost to Wesleyan and Greensboro Day – both those teams were ranked this season. So, we had a tough schedule and I think we played really well.”
The Cougars featured seven new players on their 12-player roster this year – including senior guard Ty Graves, a Boston College recruit, and senior forward Bam Adebayo, a Kentucky recruit and McDonald’s All-American.
That immediately made them one of the most talented teams in the state if not the country. But at the same time the challenge was to play together as a team against opponents that’d played together for years.
To a large degree, HPCA was quite successful – as a second-place PACIS finish and a state final appearance show. But against Providence Day it strayed from its game plan and couldn’t challenge the Chargers the way it wanted to.
It ended up being a learning experience that will hopefully serve well the seven players – including several key players like junior guards Michael Hueitt Jr. and Jalen Seegars – looking to return next year for another chance to win.
“ (Providence Day) jus t di d a great job playing together as a team,” senior guard Michal Seals said. “For us, we were tr ying our best the whole year. From start to finish, I think we grew a lot as a team. When we first played PD, we weren’t much of a team. But now I can say that we grew. …
“Right now, it hur ts. I’m sure Coach felt like this was the team that could do it. All in all, we competed. And, believe it or not, some people counted us out to even get to the final four. We faced adversity the whole year. So, to get to this point was great. It was an honor to get here, and I’m proud of my team.”
BY MICHAEL LINDSAY
ENTERPRISE SPORTS WRITER
HIGH POINT – Winning a championship is a difficult thing to do. A lot of variables have to line up perfectly. And for all but one team, it just doesn’t work out.
High Point Christian put itself in position to win a boys basketball championship. But with its 67-51 loss Saturday against top-seeded Providence Day in the NCISAA 3A final, it just didn’t work out this time.
“We had a phenomenal season,” Cougars coach Brandon Clifford said. “We came up a little bit short of our goal, which was to win a state championship and have a chance to play in the Dick’s High School National Tournament.
“But that’s like a tenth of a percent of what most high schoolers get to do. When you come in what that expectation, this one hurts bad. But, with big-picture things, we had a very good season and I’m proud of my kids.”
The Cougars continued to have success at the state’s highest level. They finished second in the PACIS 2A/3A, which featured four of the state’s top seven teams, and earned a No. 3 seed into the state tournament.
They tied their second-highest seeding in six years as a 3A school and reached the semifinals for the fourth time in the last five years – breaking through with a 51-50 win against rival Greensboro Day to reach their first-ever final.
HPCA also played a number of the country’s top teams – including top-ranked Chino Hills twice and 20th-ranked Providence Day twice – plus won its bracket in the HighSchool OT.com Holiday Invitational and finished with a 24-6 record.
“It was a fun season,” said senior forward Ben Rober tson, a Bucknell recruit. “I mean, we lost to the No. 1 team twice, lost to Wesleyan and Greensboro Day – both those teams were ranked this season. So, we had a tough schedule and I think we played really well.”
The Cougars featured seven new players on their 12-player roster this year – including senior guard Ty Graves, a Boston College recruit, and senior forward Bam Adebayo, a Kentucky recruit and McDonald’s All-American.
That immediately made them one of the most talented teams in the state if not the country. But at the same time the challenge was to play together as a team against opponents that’d played together for years.
To a large degree, HPCA was quite successful – as a second-place PACIS finish and a state final appearance show. But against Providence Day it strayed from its game plan and couldn’t challenge the Chargers the way it wanted to.
It ended up being a learning experience that will hopefully serve well the seven players – including several key players like junior guards Michael Hueitt Jr. and Jalen Seegars – looking to return next year for another chance to win.
“ (Providence Day) jus t di d a great job playing together as a team,” senior guard Michal Seals said. “For us, we were tr ying our best the whole year. From start to finish, I think we grew a lot as a team. When we first played PD, we weren’t much of a team. But now I can say that we grew. …
“Right now, it hur ts. I’m sure Coach felt like this was the team that could do it. All in all, we competed. And, believe it or not, some people counted us out to even get to the final four. We faced adversity the whole year. So, to get to this point was great. It was an honor to get here, and I’m proud of my team.”
