Ardrey Kell beats Durham Academy at Urban Builders Invitational
By Matt Kline CHARLOTTE OBSERVER
Charlotte- Despite getting just three points from their leading scorer the Ardrey Kell Knights held Durham Academy well below their scoring average and went on to win the Urban Building Group Invitational 51-47 at Charlotte Latin Wednesday.
The first half saw eight lead changes, seven of those in the second quarter. Trailing 19-17 with just over three minutes left in the second, Ardrey Kell scored the final seven points of the half and took a 24-19 lead on Jeremy Littlejohns putback just before the halftime buzzer.
In the second half Ardrey Kell never trailed but saw Durham Academy tie the game at 28 midway through the third after a Jorden Davis three. But Khdir Brinkley scored the next five points for Ardrey Kell to give the Knights a cushion, and early in the fourth a Nathan Willson three-pointer pushed the lead to 38-30.
Ardrey Kell would score their final 13 points from the free throw line, and held Durham to one field goal over a ten-minute stretch until the final minute of the game to earn the victory, which evens their record at 7-7 after an 0-4 and 1-6 start.
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Willson led Ardrey Kell with 14 points while Michael Crosby added 13 while Davis had a game-high 19 for Durham Academy and Davis Rourk chipped in with 10.
Quote: Im very proud of what this team has done, Ardrey Kell head coach Michael Craft said. We had to win three games in three days and done so in different styles with different guys stepping up. We have a long way to go but this group is getting better each day.
Records: Ardrey Kell evens their record at 7-7 while Durham Academy falls to 10-6.
Worth mentioning: Davis was the games leading scorer with 19 but Ardrey Kell held the junior guard to only four field goals on the day as eight of his points came from the free throw line.
Eighty six percent of last years scoring from the state runner-up team is gone and Craft said that his kids are starting to understand that opponents want to knock them off even though much of this team didnt see a lot of action last year.
Willson was named MVP of the tournament while Jerod Carrier and Michael Crosby were named to the All-Tournament Team. The rest of the team was:
Jorden Davis and Davis Rourk, Durham Academy; Devrion Grier, Myers Park, Grady Moore, Providence, Bates Jones, Charlotte Latin, Charvis Jones, East Meck, Karl Hankton, Harding, and Rylan McLaurin, Charlotte Country Day.
By Matt Kline CHARLOTTE OBSERVER
Charlotte- Despite getting just three points from their leading scorer the Ardrey Kell Knights held Durham Academy well below their scoring average and went on to win the Urban Building Group Invitational 51-47 at Charlotte Latin Wednesday.
The first half saw eight lead changes, seven of those in the second quarter. Trailing 19-17 with just over three minutes left in the second, Ardrey Kell scored the final seven points of the half and took a 24-19 lead on Jeremy Littlejohns putback just before the halftime buzzer.
In the second half Ardrey Kell never trailed but saw Durham Academy tie the game at 28 midway through the third after a Jorden Davis three. But Khdir Brinkley scored the next five points for Ardrey Kell to give the Knights a cushion, and early in the fourth a Nathan Willson three-pointer pushed the lead to 38-30.
Ardrey Kell would score their final 13 points from the free throw line, and held Durham to one field goal over a ten-minute stretch until the final minute of the game to earn the victory, which evens their record at 7-7 after an 0-4 and 1-6 start.
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Willson led Ardrey Kell with 14 points while Michael Crosby added 13 while Davis had a game-high 19 for Durham Academy and Davis Rourk chipped in with 10.
Quote: Im very proud of what this team has done, Ardrey Kell head coach Michael Craft said. We had to win three games in three days and done so in different styles with different guys stepping up. We have a long way to go but this group is getting better each day.
Records: Ardrey Kell evens their record at 7-7 while Durham Academy falls to 10-6.
Worth mentioning: Davis was the games leading scorer with 19 but Ardrey Kell held the junior guard to only four field goals on the day as eight of his points came from the free throw line.
Eighty six percent of last years scoring from the state runner-up team is gone and Craft said that his kids are starting to understand that opponents want to knock them off even though much of this team didnt see a lot of action last year.
Willson was named MVP of the tournament while Jerod Carrier and Michael Crosby were named to the All-Tournament Team. The rest of the team was:
Jorden Davis and Davis Rourk, Durham Academy; Devrion Grier, Myers Park, Grady Moore, Providence, Bates Jones, Charlotte Latin, Charvis Jones, East Meck, Karl Hankton, Harding, and Rylan McLaurin, Charlotte Country Day.
