Eagles soar into CIC final with rout of Oakwood
By FOSTER LANDER
Sports Writer ROCKY MOUNT TELEGRAM
After a lackluster performance against Halifax Academy in the first round of the Coastal Independent Conference tournament, Rocky Mount Academy coach Scott Dunn challenged his Eagles in a tough practice Wednesday night to see just how stifling their defense could be.
He got his answer on Thursday night: message received.
Rocky Mount Academy held Greenville Oakwood without a field goal in the first half en route to a 21-point lead, and led by as many as 32 in the second half, to cruise to a 65-40 win in the semifinals of the CIC tournament and advance to Saturday’s championship game against the Henderson Crossroads Christian/Raleigh St. Thomas More winner.
Elijah McCadden led all scorers with 25, and Kyle Holland added nine for Rocky Mount Academy.
“Hey, no more sitting here and talking about sluggish starts,” Dunn said. “We only beat them by three the last time we played, but we thought if we could stop their leading scorer that they would have a tough time.”
Oakwood’s leading scorer, junior point guard Donald Little, scored 27 in the teams’ last meeting, but the Eagles held Little to just seven points on Thursday. Eagles guard Aubrey Mitchell hounded Little all night.
“He’s a fast player and really strong, so I tried to shadow him everywhere and not give him room to get his shot off,” Mitchell said.
Rocky Mount Academy made a habit at times this season out of starting games slowly, especially in first quarters, but the Eagles jumped to a 9-1 lead inside the first 3:30 on Thursday as McCadden scored the first six and Mitchell knocked down a 3 from the wing off an assist from McCadden.
The Eagles stretched that lead to 17-3 after one quarter on two layups from Holland.
Oakwood found passing lanes closed down quickly and no room to maneuver in the paint, and the Eagles were able to force turnovers and get out on the break and score easy baskets.
“That’s RMA basketball,” Mitchell said. “We haven’t always shown it this season but when we’re doing what we’re capable of, that’s what it looks like. Hopefully that can give us some confidence going into the championship game, because we want to raise that trophy again.”
McCadden, too, was aggressive early. He was able to get to the rim both in the half court and in transition, and when Oakwood sent extra defenders at him, the sophomore was able to find Mitchell, Holland and Brendan Acker for layups.
Rocky Mount Academy led, 28-7, at halftime. All seven of Oakwood’s points came on free throws, though Oakwood could have been much closer; the visiting Eagles missed seven free throws in the second quarter.
Oakwood never got closer than 20 in the second half, even as a few shots and 3-pointers began to fall, though the visitors did enjoy a nice stretch early in the fourth quarter as McCadden and Acker sat on the bench to rest.
By that point, though, Rocky Mount Academy had pushed its lead to 32, and the hot start paid dividends.
“Coach had us ready to go and ready to play hard tonight,” McCadden said. “We knew we didn’t play well against Halifax and that we were better than what we showed. So we wanted to come out here and just do what we had to do.”
By FOSTER LANDER
Sports Writer ROCKY MOUNT TELEGRAM
After a lackluster performance against Halifax Academy in the first round of the Coastal Independent Conference tournament, Rocky Mount Academy coach Scott Dunn challenged his Eagles in a tough practice Wednesday night to see just how stifling their defense could be.
He got his answer on Thursday night: message received.
Rocky Mount Academy held Greenville Oakwood without a field goal in the first half en route to a 21-point lead, and led by as many as 32 in the second half, to cruise to a 65-40 win in the semifinals of the CIC tournament and advance to Saturday’s championship game against the Henderson Crossroads Christian/Raleigh St. Thomas More winner.
Elijah McCadden led all scorers with 25, and Kyle Holland added nine for Rocky Mount Academy.
“Hey, no more sitting here and talking about sluggish starts,” Dunn said. “We only beat them by three the last time we played, but we thought if we could stop their leading scorer that they would have a tough time.”
Oakwood’s leading scorer, junior point guard Donald Little, scored 27 in the teams’ last meeting, but the Eagles held Little to just seven points on Thursday. Eagles guard Aubrey Mitchell hounded Little all night.
“He’s a fast player and really strong, so I tried to shadow him everywhere and not give him room to get his shot off,” Mitchell said.
Rocky Mount Academy made a habit at times this season out of starting games slowly, especially in first quarters, but the Eagles jumped to a 9-1 lead inside the first 3:30 on Thursday as McCadden scored the first six and Mitchell knocked down a 3 from the wing off an assist from McCadden.
The Eagles stretched that lead to 17-3 after one quarter on two layups from Holland.
Oakwood found passing lanes closed down quickly and no room to maneuver in the paint, and the Eagles were able to force turnovers and get out on the break and score easy baskets.
“That’s RMA basketball,” Mitchell said. “We haven’t always shown it this season but when we’re doing what we’re capable of, that’s what it looks like. Hopefully that can give us some confidence going into the championship game, because we want to raise that trophy again.”
McCadden, too, was aggressive early. He was able to get to the rim both in the half court and in transition, and when Oakwood sent extra defenders at him, the sophomore was able to find Mitchell, Holland and Brendan Acker for layups.
Rocky Mount Academy led, 28-7, at halftime. All seven of Oakwood’s points came on free throws, though Oakwood could have been much closer; the visiting Eagles missed seven free throws in the second quarter.
Oakwood never got closer than 20 in the second half, even as a few shots and 3-pointers began to fall, though the visitors did enjoy a nice stretch early in the fourth quarter as McCadden and Acker sat on the bench to rest.
By that point, though, Rocky Mount Academy had pushed its lead to 32, and the hot start paid dividends.
“Coach had us ready to go and ready to play hard tonight,” McCadden said. “We knew we didn’t play well against Halifax and that we were better than what we showed. So we wanted to come out here and just do what we had to do.”
