Colts will play for crown
Ryan Leger HENDERSON DAILY DISPATCH
Colts will play for crownThe Crossroads’ boys basketball team defeated St. Thomas More, 92-53, Friday evening in the semifinals of the 1A Carolina Independent Conference tournament.
The Colts (21-8, 12-1) cruised through the first two rounds of the tournament, but will now face Rocky Mount Academy today in the championship game. Rocky Mount was the only team to defeat Crossroads in conference play this year and hasn’t lost a CIC game in the past two seasons. Luckily, the Colts will have home-court advantage considering they are hosting this year’s tourney.
Colts’ head coach Joseph Cooper talked about avoiding another slow start before the contest Friday afternoon, which his squad has been prone to this season. Despite Cooper’s focus on starting fast, Crossroads trailed St. Thomas More for much of the first quarter and found themselves down 18-10 with about two minutes remaining. Cooper was forced to call a timeout and calm his guys down, which worked like a charm. The Colts outscored St. Thomas More 14-2 through the final two minutes to claim a 24-20 advantage by the end of the first quarter.
“I anticipated a slow start, but not that slow,” Cooper said. “We didn’t play much defense through the first five minutes and they were doing anything they wanted in transition. I called a timeout to just regroup and I thought we responded really well. We turned it up defensively, which put us in position to play well after that.”
The Colts also like to run a fast-pace style of basketball, and in order to do that you have to make stops on defense. Therefore, since Crossroads’ defense stepped it up, the offense did as well. Cooper’s squad outscored St. Thomas More 24-8 in the second quarter to take a commanding 48-28 lead into the locker room at the half. Jeremiah Green (4 rebounds, 6 steals, 2 assists) led Crossroads in scoring with 29 points, while Zaire Edwards (19 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists) and Dwayne Macon (14 points, 11 rebounds, 4 steals, 3 blocks) each registered monster double-double performances.
“We were able to play our style starting in the second quarter and got into a fast-paced running game, which is what we want,” Cooper said. “We were also able to penetrate and kick to open shooters. A lot of different guys were knocking down shots tonight and the ball movement was terrific.”
The Colts played extremely unselfish basketball throughout the second half, always looking to make the extra pass and held St. Thomas More to just 23 points. Crossroads entire roster got involved as Makiyah Jones (2 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals), Jack Ketcham (4 points, 5 rebounds), Conner Bryant (5 points, 3 rebounds, 2 steals), Tyler O’Steen (9 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals) and Luke Ellis (4 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists) all performed brilliantly as the Colts are confident heading into their championship matchup this afternoon.
“We lost at their place by 11, but it was back and forth the whole game. It should definitely be a battle tomorrow,” Cooper said. “We went cold last time, so we really have to knock down our shots, but we also have to drive the lane. Last time we settled for too many outside shots and barely went to the free-throw line at all. We got into a shot-happy mentality last time, but we have to drive and kick and penetrate and attack the basket to win.”
Crossroads will also have to figure out a way to slow down Rocky Mount’s best player, massive 6-5 point guard Elijah McCadden. The super sophomore has extraordinary talent and is already garnering attention from numerous Division 1 programs.
“We are going to throw a lot of different looks at him tomorrow and hopefully confuse him a little,” Cooper said. “He is extremely tough to cover and a very unselfish player, he almost had a triple-double on us last time we played. Everything for them starts and finishes with him so we have to slow him down in order to be successful.”
The conference rivals with both be heading to the state playoffs no matter what happens today, but Rocky Mount is a 2A school and Crossroads a 1A program, which mean they cannot possibly meet again. A victory over a strong 2A program like Rocky Mount would also give the Colts a huge boost in the 1A state rankings, which determines playoff seeding.
“Tomorrow’s result will go along way in determining whether or not we host a first-round playoff game,” Cooper said. “If we can knock off a 2A program that hasn’t lost a conference game in two years it has to enhance our chances
Ryan Leger HENDERSON DAILY DISPATCH
Colts will play for crownThe Crossroads’ boys basketball team defeated St. Thomas More, 92-53, Friday evening in the semifinals of the 1A Carolina Independent Conference tournament.
The Colts (21-8, 12-1) cruised through the first two rounds of the tournament, but will now face Rocky Mount Academy today in the championship game. Rocky Mount was the only team to defeat Crossroads in conference play this year and hasn’t lost a CIC game in the past two seasons. Luckily, the Colts will have home-court advantage considering they are hosting this year’s tourney.
Colts’ head coach Joseph Cooper talked about avoiding another slow start before the contest Friday afternoon, which his squad has been prone to this season. Despite Cooper’s focus on starting fast, Crossroads trailed St. Thomas More for much of the first quarter and found themselves down 18-10 with about two minutes remaining. Cooper was forced to call a timeout and calm his guys down, which worked like a charm. The Colts outscored St. Thomas More 14-2 through the final two minutes to claim a 24-20 advantage by the end of the first quarter.
“I anticipated a slow start, but not that slow,” Cooper said. “We didn’t play much defense through the first five minutes and they were doing anything they wanted in transition. I called a timeout to just regroup and I thought we responded really well. We turned it up defensively, which put us in position to play well after that.”
The Colts also like to run a fast-pace style of basketball, and in order to do that you have to make stops on defense. Therefore, since Crossroads’ defense stepped it up, the offense did as well. Cooper’s squad outscored St. Thomas More 24-8 in the second quarter to take a commanding 48-28 lead into the locker room at the half. Jeremiah Green (4 rebounds, 6 steals, 2 assists) led Crossroads in scoring with 29 points, while Zaire Edwards (19 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists) and Dwayne Macon (14 points, 11 rebounds, 4 steals, 3 blocks) each registered monster double-double performances.
“We were able to play our style starting in the second quarter and got into a fast-paced running game, which is what we want,” Cooper said. “We were also able to penetrate and kick to open shooters. A lot of different guys were knocking down shots tonight and the ball movement was terrific.”
The Colts played extremely unselfish basketball throughout the second half, always looking to make the extra pass and held St. Thomas More to just 23 points. Crossroads entire roster got involved as Makiyah Jones (2 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals), Jack Ketcham (4 points, 5 rebounds), Conner Bryant (5 points, 3 rebounds, 2 steals), Tyler O’Steen (9 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals) and Luke Ellis (4 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists) all performed brilliantly as the Colts are confident heading into their championship matchup this afternoon.
“We lost at their place by 11, but it was back and forth the whole game. It should definitely be a battle tomorrow,” Cooper said. “We went cold last time, so we really have to knock down our shots, but we also have to drive the lane. Last time we settled for too many outside shots and barely went to the free-throw line at all. We got into a shot-happy mentality last time, but we have to drive and kick and penetrate and attack the basket to win.”
Crossroads will also have to figure out a way to slow down Rocky Mount’s best player, massive 6-5 point guard Elijah McCadden. The super sophomore has extraordinary talent and is already garnering attention from numerous Division 1 programs.
“We are going to throw a lot of different looks at him tomorrow and hopefully confuse him a little,” Cooper said. “He is extremely tough to cover and a very unselfish player, he almost had a triple-double on us last time we played. Everything for them starts and finishes with him so we have to slow him down in order to be successful.”
The conference rivals with both be heading to the state playoffs no matter what happens today, but Rocky Mount is a 2A school and Crossroads a 1A program, which mean they cannot possibly meet again. A victory over a strong 2A program like Rocky Mount would also give the Colts a huge boost in the 1A state rankings, which determines playoff seeding.
“Tomorrow’s result will go along way in determining whether or not we host a first-round playoff game,” Cooper said. “If we can knock off a 2A program that hasn’t lost a conference game in two years it has to enhance our chances
