Three for the money: Cyclones rain 11 3-pointers in first-round playoff win
By Jack Frederick jfrederick@wilsontimes.com | 265-7824 | Twitter: @_jackfrederick
The Community Christian boys basketball team married itself to the 3-pointer early in a 66-57 win over Belhaven Pungo Christian Academy on Tuesday night and found the longball to be a winning strategy to move on to the second round of the North Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Association 1-A playoffs.
The Cyclones (13-16) compiled 33 — or half — of their points from beyond the arc at Sallie B. Howard gym, but took many more shots against the Raiders (19-7) from deep than close range. It proved to be a fruitful performance that put the team way ahead early.
“The 3-point line has changed the game so much, man,” CCS head coach Roland Loftin said. “You’re always in or out of a game because of it. So right now, with the team that we have, we’re living by that 3-point line.”
The reward, outside of staying alive, is a roadtrip Thursday to The Burlington School for a 7 p.m. tipoff in the second round of the NCISAA playoffs. The Spartans (22-10) are the No. 4 team in the NCISAA 1-A standings, according to MaxPreps.com, and locked in a first-round bye as the No. 3 seed in the playoffs.
Before looking ahead to that, Community Christian shot the ball particularly well early, compiling a big lead that was enough to keep it outfront, even when the shots stopped falling for a period in the second half.
Pungo had chances to rally late, but struggled to mount a threatening comeback in the final minutes.
Senior Jimmy Forte, who led all scorers with 33 points, accounted for five of those 11 3-pointers for the Cyclones. He commanded the offense and posed a puzzling matchup for the Raider defense.
He thought the shooting just exemplified what the team does best.
“We know we’re a good shooting team,” Forte said. “We can really shoot off the catch and we’ve really been working on it in practice. We just tried to put it in the game.”
While Forte controlled the flow of the game, it was teammate Andrew Gattis, making two 3-pointers in the first minute of the game, who jumpstarted a lead. Then, when Gattis went down with an apparent knee injury with 2:21 in that first quarter, his teammates were motivated to pick up the slack and keep going for him.
“We tried to keep the momentum and just keep pushing,” Forte said.
Community Christian finished the first quarter scoring 26 points and doubling up the Raiders.
The hot shooting in the first quarter gave the team confidence throughout the rest of the game.
“In the first quarter, I think we shot the ball really well,” senior Christian McFarland assessed after a 17-point performance. “All of us, we moved the ball really well.”
In the second quarter the team kept up a similar pace to lead by 15 at halftime. When play resumed, it took CCS 4:06 to find its first point of the second half, a free throw from Forte. Nearly five minutes had passed in the third quarter before Landon Beamon scored the first basket.
The team ran with the same strategy from the first half, but it did not prove to be as effective. On several successive possessions, the Cyclones took the ball up the court and immediately missed on a long 3-pointer.
“The first half went a big smoother because it wasn’t in their head that this would be their last game,” Forte said.
But in the midst of what became a lengthy dry spell, Pungo could not seize the opportunity and didn’t come much closer.
By the end of the third quarter, Community Christian pulled it back together and led by 20 entering the fourth. The Cyclones were outscored by 11 in the final eight minutes, but could afford that run from the Raiders after all the sharp-shooting earlier.
Likely playing without Andrew Gattis on Thursday, the Cyclones know they’ll have to shoot the ball well again against The Burlington School. Gattis sparked his team early, but exited the game with an apparent knee injury in the first quarter. But the team hopes the win over Pungo can lay the ground work for another solid performance against a tougher opponent.
“It’ll be a challenge,” Loftin said. “But we’re going to go play. We’re going to shoot threes and see what happens.”
COMMUNITY CHRISTIAN 66 PUNGO 57
PUNGO . 13 13 10 21 — 57
CCS 26 15 15 10 — 66
PUNGO CHRISTIAN : Bishop 3, Benson 3, Lee 18, Van Staalduinen 9, Sawyer 17, Credle 4, O’Neal 3.
COMMUNITY CHRISTIAN ) : McFarland 17, Piccolo 4, Lane 3, Gattis 6, Forte 33, Beamon 3.
By Jack Frederick jfrederick@wilsontimes.com | 265-7824 | Twitter: @_jackfrederick
The Community Christian boys basketball team married itself to the 3-pointer early in a 66-57 win over Belhaven Pungo Christian Academy on Tuesday night and found the longball to be a winning strategy to move on to the second round of the North Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Association 1-A playoffs.
The Cyclones (13-16) compiled 33 — or half — of their points from beyond the arc at Sallie B. Howard gym, but took many more shots against the Raiders (19-7) from deep than close range. It proved to be a fruitful performance that put the team way ahead early.
“The 3-point line has changed the game so much, man,” CCS head coach Roland Loftin said. “You’re always in or out of a game because of it. So right now, with the team that we have, we’re living by that 3-point line.”
The reward, outside of staying alive, is a roadtrip Thursday to The Burlington School for a 7 p.m. tipoff in the second round of the NCISAA playoffs. The Spartans (22-10) are the No. 4 team in the NCISAA 1-A standings, according to MaxPreps.com, and locked in a first-round bye as the No. 3 seed in the playoffs.
Before looking ahead to that, Community Christian shot the ball particularly well early, compiling a big lead that was enough to keep it outfront, even when the shots stopped falling for a period in the second half.
Pungo had chances to rally late, but struggled to mount a threatening comeback in the final minutes.
Senior Jimmy Forte, who led all scorers with 33 points, accounted for five of those 11 3-pointers for the Cyclones. He commanded the offense and posed a puzzling matchup for the Raider defense.
He thought the shooting just exemplified what the team does best.
“We know we’re a good shooting team,” Forte said. “We can really shoot off the catch and we’ve really been working on it in practice. We just tried to put it in the game.”
While Forte controlled the flow of the game, it was teammate Andrew Gattis, making two 3-pointers in the first minute of the game, who jumpstarted a lead. Then, when Gattis went down with an apparent knee injury with 2:21 in that first quarter, his teammates were motivated to pick up the slack and keep going for him.
“We tried to keep the momentum and just keep pushing,” Forte said.
Community Christian finished the first quarter scoring 26 points and doubling up the Raiders.
The hot shooting in the first quarter gave the team confidence throughout the rest of the game.
“In the first quarter, I think we shot the ball really well,” senior Christian McFarland assessed after a 17-point performance. “All of us, we moved the ball really well.”
In the second quarter the team kept up a similar pace to lead by 15 at halftime. When play resumed, it took CCS 4:06 to find its first point of the second half, a free throw from Forte. Nearly five minutes had passed in the third quarter before Landon Beamon scored the first basket.
The team ran with the same strategy from the first half, but it did not prove to be as effective. On several successive possessions, the Cyclones took the ball up the court and immediately missed on a long 3-pointer.
“The first half went a big smoother because it wasn’t in their head that this would be their last game,” Forte said.
But in the midst of what became a lengthy dry spell, Pungo could not seize the opportunity and didn’t come much closer.
By the end of the third quarter, Community Christian pulled it back together and led by 20 entering the fourth. The Cyclones were outscored by 11 in the final eight minutes, but could afford that run from the Raiders after all the sharp-shooting earlier.
Likely playing without Andrew Gattis on Thursday, the Cyclones know they’ll have to shoot the ball well again against The Burlington School. Gattis sparked his team early, but exited the game with an apparent knee injury in the first quarter. But the team hopes the win over Pungo can lay the ground work for another solid performance against a tougher opponent.
“It’ll be a challenge,” Loftin said. “But we’re going to go play. We’re going to shoot threes and see what happens.”
COMMUNITY CHRISTIAN 66 PUNGO 57
PUNGO . 13 13 10 21 — 57
CCS 26 15 15 10 — 66
PUNGO CHRISTIAN : Bishop 3, Benson 3, Lee 18, Van Staalduinen 9, Sawyer 17, Credle 4, O’Neal 3.
COMMUNITY CHRISTIAN ) : McFarland 17, Piccolo 4, Lane 3, Gattis 6, Forte 33, Beamon 3.
