By Tim Donelli
Correspondent CHARLOTTE OBSERVER
Charlotte Latin has picked a good time to start playing its best] basketball. The Hawks, winners of five straight and eight of its last nine jumped into CISAA conference play at home with 67-50 win over the Charlotte Country Day Buccaneers.
A pair of seniors led the way with forward Parker Julian leading the Hawks with a 20-point effort along with ten rebounds, five assists and a block. Caleb Jordan controlled the backcourt for Latin and added 13 points to go along with five rebounds and five assist. Junior Bates Jones also contributed ten points and nine boards for the Hawks.
“We worked it well against their zone,” said Julian. “Our guards did a good job hitting the high post and getting it inside.”
Latin started the game with an 11-4 run but Country Day came back to cut the Latin lead to only three after one quarter. With the Hawks leading by seven at the half, they outscored the Bucs by ten in the second half for the final 17-point margin of victory. Jack Vaughn led Country Day in scoring with 20 points while Christien Williams also finished in double figures with ten points.
“I was real pleased with holding a very good basketball team to 50 point,” said Latin coach Chris Berger. “Our defense is improving every single day and we’re getting physically tougher. Our defense has really gone on a roll and it’s the reason we’ve gone on this eight out of nine winning streak.”
In the girls game Latin, ranked No.11 in the Sweet 16, easily defeated Country Day 43-29. The Hawks defense was smothering, yielding only one point in the first quarter and just six in the first half while racing to a 27-6 lead at the break.
Kiera Dowell led the Hawks with 11 points while Kathryn Vandiver, Claudia Dickey, and Ruthie Jones each added eight. Grace Gach had 11 for Country Day with Sally Sasz finishing with eight.
“I liked the fact that we worked through kinks,” said Latin coach Charisse Mapp when asked what she liked best about the Hawks performance. “We worked through having different personnel on the floor because sometimes younger players have a hard time maintaining focus. We worked through the mental kinks.”
THREE WHO MATTERED
Parker Julian: Latin boys big man was a handful for Country Day to handle both down low and outside.
Caleb Jordan: Latin boys guard handled the point well and penetrated well when given the opportunity.
Kiera Dowell: Latin girls guard had eight first-half points in pacing the Hawks to a big 27-6 halftime lead.
THEY SAID IT
“We’re going to take it like we do any other game. We’re going to prepare ourselves tomorrow (Wednesday) and Thursday in practice, put our game plan in and try to do what we do best. We’re going to play Latin basketball and see where we stand when the buzzer goes off.” Berger on Latin’s Friday night’s challenge of facing nationally ranked and Sweet 16 No. 1 Providence Day.
RECORDS
Country Day boys (7-12, 0-1), Latin Boys (9-7, 1-0)
Country Day girls (5-8, 0-1), Latin girls (12-4, 1-0)
WHAT’S NEXT
Latin girls and boys will play at Providence Day Friday at 6 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. respectively, while Country Day’s girls and boys play Friday at Covenant Day at 6 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. respectively.
Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/sports/high-school/article54418780.html#storylink=cpy
Correspondent CHARLOTTE OBSERVER
Charlotte Latin has picked a good time to start playing its best] basketball. The Hawks, winners of five straight and eight of its last nine jumped into CISAA conference play at home with 67-50 win over the Charlotte Country Day Buccaneers.
A pair of seniors led the way with forward Parker Julian leading the Hawks with a 20-point effort along with ten rebounds, five assists and a block. Caleb Jordan controlled the backcourt for Latin and added 13 points to go along with five rebounds and five assist. Junior Bates Jones also contributed ten points and nine boards for the Hawks.
“We worked it well against their zone,” said Julian. “Our guards did a good job hitting the high post and getting it inside.”
Latin started the game with an 11-4 run but Country Day came back to cut the Latin lead to only three after one quarter. With the Hawks leading by seven at the half, they outscored the Bucs by ten in the second half for the final 17-point margin of victory. Jack Vaughn led Country Day in scoring with 20 points while Christien Williams also finished in double figures with ten points.
“I was real pleased with holding a very good basketball team to 50 point,” said Latin coach Chris Berger. “Our defense is improving every single day and we’re getting physically tougher. Our defense has really gone on a roll and it’s the reason we’ve gone on this eight out of nine winning streak.”
In the girls game Latin, ranked No.11 in the Sweet 16, easily defeated Country Day 43-29. The Hawks defense was smothering, yielding only one point in the first quarter and just six in the first half while racing to a 27-6 lead at the break.
Kiera Dowell led the Hawks with 11 points while Kathryn Vandiver, Claudia Dickey, and Ruthie Jones each added eight. Grace Gach had 11 for Country Day with Sally Sasz finishing with eight.
“I liked the fact that we worked through kinks,” said Latin coach Charisse Mapp when asked what she liked best about the Hawks performance. “We worked through having different personnel on the floor because sometimes younger players have a hard time maintaining focus. We worked through the mental kinks.”
THREE WHO MATTERED
Parker Julian: Latin boys big man was a handful for Country Day to handle both down low and outside.
Caleb Jordan: Latin boys guard handled the point well and penetrated well when given the opportunity.
Kiera Dowell: Latin girls guard had eight first-half points in pacing the Hawks to a big 27-6 halftime lead.
THEY SAID IT
“We’re going to take it like we do any other game. We’re going to prepare ourselves tomorrow (Wednesday) and Thursday in practice, put our game plan in and try to do what we do best. We’re going to play Latin basketball and see where we stand when the buzzer goes off.” Berger on Latin’s Friday night’s challenge of facing nationally ranked and Sweet 16 No. 1 Providence Day.
RECORDS
Country Day boys (7-12, 0-1), Latin Boys (9-7, 1-0)
Country Day girls (5-8, 0-1), Latin girls (12-4, 1-0)
WHAT’S NEXT
Latin girls and boys will play at Providence Day Friday at 6 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. respectively, while Country Day’s girls and boys play Friday at Covenant Day at 6 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. respectively.
Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/sports/high-school/article54418780.html#storylink=cpy
