Wesleyan holds off Glenn, 69-58
BY MICHAEL LINDSAYENTERPRISE SPORTS WRITER
GREENSBORO — Wesleyan Christian wanted to see how it’d respond after a tough loss the night before. It was largely positive.The Trojans led by double digits in the second quarter, fended off a comeback and led again by double digits in the fourth to roll past Glenn, 69-58, in the Phenom Gate City Classic boys basketball showcase Saturday afternoon at Greensboro Day.
“I felt like we played pretty well,” Wesleyan coach CJ Lee said. “Obviously, coming off a game last night at Durham Academy, the thought process and concern was: What was our energy level going to be? I’m grateful we have veteran players who know what it takes to stick with our process, stick with our script and do what we do. Credit Glenn for playing hard. They’re very organized in giving a great effort.
“I thought the difference was AP with the 18, eight and eight. Josh Wiggins had some really big dunks for us and some energy. And Kaleb Brooks with the 17 points he scored — sometimes you don’t notice it because it just adds up with the 3-balls and scoring inside. That really stabilized us and we put together a stretch in the fourth quarter where we were able to get some stops, get some run-outs and get the separation we needed to get the victor y.”
Aisaiah Phillips flirted with a triple-double — totaling 18 points, eight rebounds and eight assists — to lead the Trojans (2-1), who lost, 68-56, against Durham Academy on Friday. Kaleb Brooks added 17 points and nine rebounds, while Josh Wiggins had 13 points.
Wesleyan used a 7-2 spurt midway through the second — taking advantage of opportunities to rebound and push the ball up the court — to lead 30-19 with 3:30 left in the first half. The Trojans, after the Bobcats got back within two, then scored 12 straight in the second half to lead 59-45 with 6:04 left in the third
“We were just talking to each other, telling each other to make the right play and just encouraging each other,” Phillips said. “... I feel like we’re playing great. We’re playing unselfish. We have a lot of people who’ve doubted us, so it feels great to prove them wrong.”
Part of the reasoning behind participating in the event, Lee said, was with the state tour-nament semifinals and championship in mind — to follow up a tough game Friday with another tough game Saturday.“
The only reason we play Friday-Saturday games is to simulate what it’s like to hang a banner — that’s the only reason we do it,” he said. “So, you’re always building your schedule back and saying: This is an opportunity for us to prepare our team, see what we have early in the year against a quality opponent in a great event and see what we’re made of. I’m really excited to get back to practice, I’m really excited about the upcoming week. This is why we do it.”
Julius Reese Jr. scored 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead Glenn (0-2), while Jeremiah Scales added 11 points and seven rebounds and Zion Dixon had 12 points. The Bobcats used a 10-3 run late in the second and early in the third to pull within three and trimmed its deficit to two twice late in the quarter.But a couple turn-overs and a few misses swung the momentum back the other way.
“We played hard,” Glenn coach Johnathan Gainey said. “I’m proud of our effort. I knew we were up against a tough team, and I know they’ll be a tough out. We battled, so I’m pleased with how hard we played. But they got a couple 50-50 balls, a couple close calls that didn’t go our way.“
We were executing and running our offense,” he said, pin-pointing how his team rallied.
“When we got out of character and broke down into individual play, that created turnovers. And I think that’s where they were able to get out and take the lead. But we took a timeout, calmed them down, ran our sets to get back in the game.”
Wesleyan plays again Tuesday at home against rival Greensboro Day before playing Friday and Saturday in the Headliners Challenge at Greensboro Day, while the Bobcats play Wednesday against Combine Academy in the Roscoe Turner Invitational at Forsyth Country Day.
mlindsay@hpenews.com@HPEmichael
BY MICHAEL LINDSAYENTERPRISE SPORTS WRITER
GREENSBORO — Wesleyan Christian wanted to see how it’d respond after a tough loss the night before. It was largely positive.The Trojans led by double digits in the second quarter, fended off a comeback and led again by double digits in the fourth to roll past Glenn, 69-58, in the Phenom Gate City Classic boys basketball showcase Saturday afternoon at Greensboro Day.
“I felt like we played pretty well,” Wesleyan coach CJ Lee said. “Obviously, coming off a game last night at Durham Academy, the thought process and concern was: What was our energy level going to be? I’m grateful we have veteran players who know what it takes to stick with our process, stick with our script and do what we do. Credit Glenn for playing hard. They’re very organized in giving a great effort.
“I thought the difference was AP with the 18, eight and eight. Josh Wiggins had some really big dunks for us and some energy. And Kaleb Brooks with the 17 points he scored — sometimes you don’t notice it because it just adds up with the 3-balls and scoring inside. That really stabilized us and we put together a stretch in the fourth quarter where we were able to get some stops, get some run-outs and get the separation we needed to get the victor y.”
Aisaiah Phillips flirted with a triple-double — totaling 18 points, eight rebounds and eight assists — to lead the Trojans (2-1), who lost, 68-56, against Durham Academy on Friday. Kaleb Brooks added 17 points and nine rebounds, while Josh Wiggins had 13 points.
Wesleyan used a 7-2 spurt midway through the second — taking advantage of opportunities to rebound and push the ball up the court — to lead 30-19 with 3:30 left in the first half. The Trojans, after the Bobcats got back within two, then scored 12 straight in the second half to lead 59-45 with 6:04 left in the third
“We were just talking to each other, telling each other to make the right play and just encouraging each other,” Phillips said. “... I feel like we’re playing great. We’re playing unselfish. We have a lot of people who’ve doubted us, so it feels great to prove them wrong.”
Part of the reasoning behind participating in the event, Lee said, was with the state tour-nament semifinals and championship in mind — to follow up a tough game Friday with another tough game Saturday.“
The only reason we play Friday-Saturday games is to simulate what it’s like to hang a banner — that’s the only reason we do it,” he said. “So, you’re always building your schedule back and saying: This is an opportunity for us to prepare our team, see what we have early in the year against a quality opponent in a great event and see what we’re made of. I’m really excited to get back to practice, I’m really excited about the upcoming week. This is why we do it.”
Julius Reese Jr. scored 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead Glenn (0-2), while Jeremiah Scales added 11 points and seven rebounds and Zion Dixon had 12 points. The Bobcats used a 10-3 run late in the second and early in the third to pull within three and trimmed its deficit to two twice late in the quarter.But a couple turn-overs and a few misses swung the momentum back the other way.
“We played hard,” Glenn coach Johnathan Gainey said. “I’m proud of our effort. I knew we were up against a tough team, and I know they’ll be a tough out. We battled, so I’m pleased with how hard we played. But they got a couple 50-50 balls, a couple close calls that didn’t go our way.“
We were executing and running our offense,” he said, pin-pointing how his team rallied.
“When we got out of character and broke down into individual play, that created turnovers. And I think that’s where they were able to get out and take the lead. But we took a timeout, calmed them down, ran our sets to get back in the game.”
Wesleyan plays again Tuesday at home against rival Greensboro Day before playing Friday and Saturday in the Headliners Challenge at Greensboro Day, while the Bobcats play Wednesday against Combine Academy in the Roscoe Turner Invitational at Forsyth Country Day.
mlindsay@hpenews.com@HPEmichael
