Coastal Christian earns hoops sweep over rival CFA
By Tim Hower Wilmington StarNews Staff
It wasn't always pretty, but the Coastal Christian girls basketball team downed rival Cape Fear Academy for the fourth consecutive time.
Junior guard Sam Stanko scored 12 points and the Centurions overcame 27 turnovers to pick up a 39-33 road victory Tuesday night.
"Winning our fourth in a row in the series certainly feels good," Coastal Christian coach Mike Scheffel said. "It's definitely how our seniors wanted to end their careers here."
Neither team led by more than six points in the opening half.
CFA took its first lead on a Kaia Simpson jumper with 49 seconds to play in the second quarter, but the Centurions (7-9, 1-1 Coastal Rivers Conference) tied the score at 17 with a jumper from Julia Masters just before the buzzer.
Coastal Christian scored seven consecutive points midway to end the third quarter, capped by a pair of free throws from Stanko, to build a 30-23 lead.
During the four-minute span, the Centurions defense got 10 consecutive stops.
"The girls recognized we've been lacking some intensity and passion in our recent games, so they wanted to change that," Scheffel said. "We knew the best way to show that was on the defensive end."
The lead was 36-25 before things got interesting late. The Hurricanes (11-4, 2-1) scored four points in eight seconds to cut the deficit to five with 1:12 to play, but that was as close as they got.
CFA standout freshman Chloe Kernan was limited to five points on 1 of 10 shooting before leaving the game in the third quarter with a foot injury. Simpson led the home team with 12 points.
More Video: Kevin Knapp, project manager for the Cape Fear Public Utility Authority, de…
"We've got great respect for this team," Scheffel said. "Coach (Ray) Beatty does a great job with them, and obviously Chloe is an outstanding player.
"We knew we had our hands full going into the game. We really focused our efforts on making it difficult for her, and fortunately we were able to do that."
By Tim Hower Wilmington StarNews Staff
It wasn't always pretty, but the Coastal Christian girls basketball team downed rival Cape Fear Academy for the fourth consecutive time.
Junior guard Sam Stanko scored 12 points and the Centurions overcame 27 turnovers to pick up a 39-33 road victory Tuesday night.
"Winning our fourth in a row in the series certainly feels good," Coastal Christian coach Mike Scheffel said. "It's definitely how our seniors wanted to end their careers here."
Neither team led by more than six points in the opening half.
CFA took its first lead on a Kaia Simpson jumper with 49 seconds to play in the second quarter, but the Centurions (7-9, 1-1 Coastal Rivers Conference) tied the score at 17 with a jumper from Julia Masters just before the buzzer.
Coastal Christian scored seven consecutive points midway to end the third quarter, capped by a pair of free throws from Stanko, to build a 30-23 lead.
During the four-minute span, the Centurions defense got 10 consecutive stops.
"The girls recognized we've been lacking some intensity and passion in our recent games, so they wanted to change that," Scheffel said. "We knew the best way to show that was on the defensive end."
The lead was 36-25 before things got interesting late. The Hurricanes (11-4, 2-1) scored four points in eight seconds to cut the deficit to five with 1:12 to play, but that was as close as they got.
CFA standout freshman Chloe Kernan was limited to five points on 1 of 10 shooting before leaving the game in the third quarter with a foot injury. Simpson led the home team with 12 points.
More Video: Kevin Knapp, project manager for the Cape Fear Public Utility Authority, de…
"We've got great respect for this team," Scheffel said. "Coach (Ray) Beatty does a great job with them, and obviously Chloe is an outstanding player.
"We knew we had our hands full going into the game. We really focused our efforts on making it difficult for her, and fortunately we were able to do that."
