Crossroads picks up first win against depleted KVA
By Brandon White bwhite@hendersondispatch.com; 252-436-2840
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HENDERSON — After enduring a rigorous non-conference schedule and numerous COVID-19-related setbacks, Crossroads Christian’s men’s basketball team finally claimed its first victory of the season on Thursday.
The 86-30 win came against a Kerr-Vance Academy program left shorthanded for a variety of reasons that included health protocols.
Head coach Scottie Richardson said the 2020-21 season has been stressful for him and his players with everything they have gone through to date, which made Thursday’s outcome all the more special for everyone involved with the program.
“I’m a little emotional to be honest,” Richardson said. “I know KVA had a lot of guys out, but anyone that saw us play [on Thursday] saw that we were at full-strength and had energy all the way through. “
Despite not having Joel Lewis, Michael Holtzman, Joseph Knott or Jay-Quan Pierce in the lineup, KVA held their own against CCS, with seniors Coleman Merritt and Chance Murphy commanding the offense. The Spartans briefly held a small lead over their local rivals.
But Crossroads speeded the tempo after a first quarter timeout, and forced KVA into committing several turnovers in transition. A three-pointer by junior Andres Prince at the end of the first half enabled the Colts to go to the locker room up 46-23.
In the third quarter, Prince and fellow junior Drew Rogers continued to torch KVA’s defense, and the Colts defense limited their opponents to just two points. A 74-25 advantage for CCS was enough to convince Richardson to empty his bench ahead of the fourth quarter.
CCS capped off the evening with reserve junior Zachary Williamson draining a three-pointer, much to the delight of his fellow teammates and Richardson.
“Zachary is a young kid who works hard every day in practice,” Richardson said. “He doesn’t get any playing time, but he made the most of his minutes tonight by hitting that three-pointer at the end against his former school.”
KVA head coach Brandon Dickerson anticipated that his team’s matchup with CCS would be difficult with so many players unable to suit up, but he praised the effort his players brought to the court all evening despite the circumstances.
“I thought our team came out great from the tip,” Dickerson said. “We had great energy and we were ready to compete, but we had a very small squad tonight so we did run out of fuel earlier than we would have liked. We competed, we fought hard and we got better tonight, so it was all worth it.”
Lewis, Holtzman, Pierce, Knott and the others absent for KVA on Thursday are expected to return to the team next week, which has Dickerson confident in his team’s ability to compete through the rest of the season following the performance Merritt, Murphy put together against Crossroads.
“Once we get everybody back, I would like to see the fight and urgency we had [on Thursday],” Dickerson said. “With everything going on right now, you don’t know when the end is going to be, so we have to take every practice and game one day at a time.”
Richardson said that the victory against them was a complete team effort, which was needed with senior Asher Fulk out of the lineup due to a non-COVID illness.
He admitted that the season still feels new to him and his players in the middle of January, given how many games Crossroads has had postponed or canceled.
“We still have to work on many things, with finishing around the rim being one of them,” Richardson said. “We missed a lot of layups in the first half that would have extended the lead even more at halftime, but we’ll work on that. Having everybody in practice is helpful and it’s amazing that we put together that kind of performance without the captain of the team.”
Following Friday’s matchup with Grace Christian, Crossroads will take part in three games next week, including a rematch with KVA on Thursday at 6 p.m. KVA’s next contest will be on the road Tuesday at 7 p.m. against Rocky Mount Academy.
By Brandon White bwhite@hendersondispatch.com; 252-436-2840
Top of Form
Bottom of Form
HENDERSON — After enduring a rigorous non-conference schedule and numerous COVID-19-related setbacks, Crossroads Christian’s men’s basketball team finally claimed its first victory of the season on Thursday.
The 86-30 win came against a Kerr-Vance Academy program left shorthanded for a variety of reasons that included health protocols.
Head coach Scottie Richardson said the 2020-21 season has been stressful for him and his players with everything they have gone through to date, which made Thursday’s outcome all the more special for everyone involved with the program.
“I’m a little emotional to be honest,” Richardson said. “I know KVA had a lot of guys out, but anyone that saw us play [on Thursday] saw that we were at full-strength and had energy all the way through. “
Despite not having Joel Lewis, Michael Holtzman, Joseph Knott or Jay-Quan Pierce in the lineup, KVA held their own against CCS, with seniors Coleman Merritt and Chance Murphy commanding the offense. The Spartans briefly held a small lead over their local rivals.
But Crossroads speeded the tempo after a first quarter timeout, and forced KVA into committing several turnovers in transition. A three-pointer by junior Andres Prince at the end of the first half enabled the Colts to go to the locker room up 46-23.
In the third quarter, Prince and fellow junior Drew Rogers continued to torch KVA’s defense, and the Colts defense limited their opponents to just two points. A 74-25 advantage for CCS was enough to convince Richardson to empty his bench ahead of the fourth quarter.
CCS capped off the evening with reserve junior Zachary Williamson draining a three-pointer, much to the delight of his fellow teammates and Richardson.
“Zachary is a young kid who works hard every day in practice,” Richardson said. “He doesn’t get any playing time, but he made the most of his minutes tonight by hitting that three-pointer at the end against his former school.”
KVA head coach Brandon Dickerson anticipated that his team’s matchup with CCS would be difficult with so many players unable to suit up, but he praised the effort his players brought to the court all evening despite the circumstances.
“I thought our team came out great from the tip,” Dickerson said. “We had great energy and we were ready to compete, but we had a very small squad tonight so we did run out of fuel earlier than we would have liked. We competed, we fought hard and we got better tonight, so it was all worth it.”
Lewis, Holtzman, Pierce, Knott and the others absent for KVA on Thursday are expected to return to the team next week, which has Dickerson confident in his team’s ability to compete through the rest of the season following the performance Merritt, Murphy put together against Crossroads.
“Once we get everybody back, I would like to see the fight and urgency we had [on Thursday],” Dickerson said. “With everything going on right now, you don’t know when the end is going to be, so we have to take every practice and game one day at a time.”
Richardson said that the victory against them was a complete team effort, which was needed with senior Asher Fulk out of the lineup due to a non-COVID illness.
He admitted that the season still feels new to him and his players in the middle of January, given how many games Crossroads has had postponed or canceled.
“We still have to work on many things, with finishing around the rim being one of them,” Richardson said. “We missed a lot of layups in the first half that would have extended the lead even more at halftime, but we’ll work on that. Having everybody in practice is helpful and it’s amazing that we put together that kind of performance without the captain of the team.”
Following Friday’s matchup with Grace Christian, Crossroads will take part in three games next week, including a rematch with KVA on Thursday at 6 p.m. KVA’s next contest will be on the road Tuesday at 7 p.m. against Rocky Mount Academy.
