Fulkerson, Greenies storm back for 6th straight win
SWANNANOA – It is hard to keep a good team down.
Especially the best basketball team in the Carolinas Athletic Association.
Christ School trailed by as many as 12 points Tuesday night at Asheville Christian Academy before Tennessee recruit John Fulkerson willed the Greenies to a 76-66 comeback win.
Fulkerson, who is a 6-foot-8 senior, poured in a team-high 23 points. Much of that scoring came off dunks of some sort, including a two-handed putback with 4 minutes, 5 seconds to play. That broke a 61-61 tie and gave Christ School (16-6, 5-0) the lead for good.
The Greenies mounted a 15-0 run in the fourth quarter to extend their current winning streak to six games.
“This was a huge game for us,” Fulkerson said.
“We wanted to keep the momentum and stay undefeated in the conference. As a senior, you just want to treasure moments like this. (The regular season) is almost over and I just want to treasure it as much as I can and help us finish strong.”
Matt Halvorsen and William Fleming added 15 points apiece for Christ School. Morgan McKay had 12 points and Christian Nichols had nine.
The combination of James Madison recruit Jordan Shepherd (24 points) and Chris Clayton (17) helped stake the Lions to a 43-35 lead at halftime. The score was 59-53 in ACA’s favor at the end of the third quarter.
But Christ School had very few empty possessions in the second half. Fleming, a junior who has committed to play college baseball for Wake Forest, provided seven of his points in the final eight minutes. All but eight of Fulkerson's points came during the third or fourth quarters.
Both teams shot the ball well — they combined for a dozen 3-pointers.
"There were eight straight possessions at one point where we got the ball to Fulkerson," Greenies coach Scott Willard said.
"It's big to see one of your seniors step up like that. This is six straight wins for us, and tonight was another good competitive game."
Christ School's winning streak began Jan. 13. The Greenies are at Veritas Christian Academy on Thursday before a daunting test Friday at national powerhouse Oak Hill Academy (Va.).
“It was a great gym (Tuesday night), a great environment,” Willard said.
"We're not a bad defensive team, but we didn't get off the bus looking like that tonight. As the game went on, we did a better job. Shepherd is such a great player that you have to put two defenders on him. We wanted to make someone else beat us. I like where we're at as a team right now. We're learning how to finish and I think we're ready to make a good final run."
Christ School has a two-game cushion on Carolina Day (19-3, 2-2) in the CAA standings and a three-game advantage over ACA (14-6, 2-3).
"Christ School is a talented, well-disciplined team," Lions coach Andy Ray said.
"We just couldn't get the defensive stops when we needed them tonight. And I thought John Fulkerson really showed why he's a next-level kind of player."
Shepherd has been leading the CAA in scoring with 19.6 points per game. The 6-foot-3 senior from Asheville committed to James Madison earlier this month. The Dukes sent an assistant coach from Harrisonburg, Va., to Tuesday's game.
SWANNANOA – It is hard to keep a good team down.
Especially the best basketball team in the Carolinas Athletic Association.
Christ School trailed by as many as 12 points Tuesday night at Asheville Christian Academy before Tennessee recruit John Fulkerson willed the Greenies to a 76-66 comeback win.
Fulkerson, who is a 6-foot-8 senior, poured in a team-high 23 points. Much of that scoring came off dunks of some sort, including a two-handed putback with 4 minutes, 5 seconds to play. That broke a 61-61 tie and gave Christ School (16-6, 5-0) the lead for good.
The Greenies mounted a 15-0 run in the fourth quarter to extend their current winning streak to six games.
“This was a huge game for us,” Fulkerson said.
“We wanted to keep the momentum and stay undefeated in the conference. As a senior, you just want to treasure moments like this. (The regular season) is almost over and I just want to treasure it as much as I can and help us finish strong.”
Matt Halvorsen and William Fleming added 15 points apiece for Christ School. Morgan McKay had 12 points and Christian Nichols had nine.
The combination of James Madison recruit Jordan Shepherd (24 points) and Chris Clayton (17) helped stake the Lions to a 43-35 lead at halftime. The score was 59-53 in ACA’s favor at the end of the third quarter.
But Christ School had very few empty possessions in the second half. Fleming, a junior who has committed to play college baseball for Wake Forest, provided seven of his points in the final eight minutes. All but eight of Fulkerson's points came during the third or fourth quarters.
Both teams shot the ball well — they combined for a dozen 3-pointers.
"There were eight straight possessions at one point where we got the ball to Fulkerson," Greenies coach Scott Willard said.
"It's big to see one of your seniors step up like that. This is six straight wins for us, and tonight was another good competitive game."
Christ School's winning streak began Jan. 13. The Greenies are at Veritas Christian Academy on Thursday before a daunting test Friday at national powerhouse Oak Hill Academy (Va.).
“It was a great gym (Tuesday night), a great environment,” Willard said.
"We're not a bad defensive team, but we didn't get off the bus looking like that tonight. As the game went on, we did a better job. Shepherd is such a great player that you have to put two defenders on him. We wanted to make someone else beat us. I like where we're at as a team right now. We're learning how to finish and I think we're ready to make a good final run."
Christ School has a two-game cushion on Carolina Day (19-3, 2-2) in the CAA standings and a three-game advantage over ACA (14-6, 2-3).
"Christ School is a talented, well-disciplined team," Lions coach Andy Ray said.
"We just couldn't get the defensive stops when we needed them tonight. And I thought John Fulkerson really showed why he's a next-level kind of player."
Shepherd has been leading the CAA in scoring with 19.6 points per game. The 6-foot-3 senior from Asheville committed to James Madison earlier this month. The Dukes sent an assistant coach from Harrisonburg, Va., to Tuesday's game.
