MICHAEL LINDSEY—HIGH POINT ENTERPRISE
HIGH POINT — Wesleyan Christian clamped down late in the first half and throughout the second to pull away and defeat crosstown rival Westchester Country Day 82-55 in boys basketball Saturday at High Point University.
In the girls’ game, Wesleyan Christian built a 19-point lead in the first half and held off Liberty Christian’s rally within four in the final minute to win 42-36.
“We’re getting better,” Trojans boys coach Keith Gatlin said. “Thank God for the victory. The kids responded well in the second half. We played some defense, and we’re happy to take the win as we get ready for our trip to Florida.
“We just played defense. … It’s the same as usual. When we buy into defense, we’re really good. We’re not where we’d like to be going into Christmas, but that’s normal. We’re excited to be 9-1 — we’ll take that.”
Brandon Childress scored 21 points to lead Wesleyan (9-1), ranked No. 4 among NCISAA 3A teams. Michael Buckland followed with 14 points, while David Carraher added 12 points to lead five double-figure scorers.
The Trojans closed the first half on a 14-5 run to lead 38-27 — their only double-digit lead coming in the final five seconds — and opened the second half on a 16-5 run to lead 54-32 with 2:57 left in the third.
“In the first half, we went through some adversity,” said Childress, a Wake Forest recruit. “We weren’t taking good shots, weren’t playing defense and we had a lot of turnovers. Coming out of the locker room, we all came together and decided we really had to focus in and do what we had to do to get the win.
“It was just having each other’s back,” he said of the second half. “Every night it’s going to be somebody’s night, so we just try to keep everyone involved in the game. As the point guard, I just have to keep everybody focused and locked in on the game.”
Caymen Bennett and L.J. McCoy each scored 14 points to lead the Wildcats (6-5), who also played 3A powers High Point Christian and Forsyth Country Day plus top-ranked 1A power The Burlington School over the last week.
Nick Brown added 11 points, as Westchester hung with Wesleyan for significant stretches — trailing by just two with 4:56 left in the second and pulling within 10 with 7:09 left in the fourth.
“I thought we competed hard,” Wildcats coach David Carrier said. “We had a lot of fight in us. We did not play basketball as well as we can play, but we competed as hard as we could compete. At the end of the day, that’s the most important thing.
“We made no adjustments — we just played basketball,” he said of his team sticking with the Trojans. “We play like we always play. … Obviously I’d like to have a couple wins in this stretch. But the main reason we played these games was to make us better in January and February. I have no doubt they will.”
Wesleyan plays again Friday against Wheeler (Georgia) in the City of Palms Classic in Fort Myers, Florida. Westchester also plays Friday at Gaston Day before playing in the Sheetz Holiday Christmas Classic starting Dec. 28.
HIGH POINT — Wesleyan Christian clamped down late in the first half and throughout the second to pull away and defeat crosstown rival Westchester Country Day 82-55 in boys basketball Saturday at High Point University.
In the girls’ game, Wesleyan Christian built a 19-point lead in the first half and held off Liberty Christian’s rally within four in the final minute to win 42-36.
“We’re getting better,” Trojans boys coach Keith Gatlin said. “Thank God for the victory. The kids responded well in the second half. We played some defense, and we’re happy to take the win as we get ready for our trip to Florida.
“We just played defense. … It’s the same as usual. When we buy into defense, we’re really good. We’re not where we’d like to be going into Christmas, but that’s normal. We’re excited to be 9-1 — we’ll take that.”
Brandon Childress scored 21 points to lead Wesleyan (9-1), ranked No. 4 among NCISAA 3A teams. Michael Buckland followed with 14 points, while David Carraher added 12 points to lead five double-figure scorers.
The Trojans closed the first half on a 14-5 run to lead 38-27 — their only double-digit lead coming in the final five seconds — and opened the second half on a 16-5 run to lead 54-32 with 2:57 left in the third.
“In the first half, we went through some adversity,” said Childress, a Wake Forest recruit. “We weren’t taking good shots, weren’t playing defense and we had a lot of turnovers. Coming out of the locker room, we all came together and decided we really had to focus in and do what we had to do to get the win.
“It was just having each other’s back,” he said of the second half. “Every night it’s going to be somebody’s night, so we just try to keep everyone involved in the game. As the point guard, I just have to keep everybody focused and locked in on the game.”
Caymen Bennett and L.J. McCoy each scored 14 points to lead the Wildcats (6-5), who also played 3A powers High Point Christian and Forsyth Country Day plus top-ranked 1A power The Burlington School over the last week.
Nick Brown added 11 points, as Westchester hung with Wesleyan for significant stretches — trailing by just two with 4:56 left in the second and pulling within 10 with 7:09 left in the fourth.
“I thought we competed hard,” Wildcats coach David Carrier said. “We had a lot of fight in us. We did not play basketball as well as we can play, but we competed as hard as we could compete. At the end of the day, that’s the most important thing.
“We made no adjustments — we just played basketball,” he said of his team sticking with the Trojans. “We play like we always play. … Obviously I’d like to have a couple wins in this stretch. But the main reason we played these games was to make us better in January and February. I have no doubt they will.”
Wesleyan plays again Friday against Wheeler (Georgia) in the City of Palms Classic in Fort Myers, Florida. Westchester also plays Friday at Gaston Day before playing in the Sheetz Holiday Christmas Classic starting Dec. 28.
