Hannah Faulkner---Henderson Daily Dispatch
Crossroads Christian boys’ basketball team came out on top with a 100-74 victory over Kerr-Vance Academy in the championship game of the Kerr-Vance Holiday Invitational.
“I think we got away from what we do best and then they tried to speed the game up and we fell kind of into their hands,” Spartans’ head coach Taron Downey Said of his team after the first quarter.
The Colts went into the locker room at the half with a 42-34 lead over the Spartans. Crossroads performed well in the first half offensively, but had to make some drastic changes on defense in the second half.
“We were fouling a lot in the first half and the officials were calling a lot to try and get back control of the game. We really just talked about moving our feet and intercepting passes,” Colts’ head coach Joseph Cooper said.
The Colts were able to keep the game at their own pace after the break and were able to quickly extend their lead over Kerr-Vance.
“Once we started making careless turnovers, that was what really broke the game up. We were giving them the ball,” Downey said. “And when you give them the ball you can’t get shots up. You can’t win a game without getting shots up.”
The Spartans totaled 31 fouls, mostly in the second half, which gave the Colts a great opportunity to rack up points from the free throw line. When asked about his teams’ fouling, Downey admitted it had a tremendous effect in the second half. There were also six technical fouls called throughout the contest, five of which were on the Spartans.
“You can’t blame the refs, you just have to play the game and tip your hats off to Crossroads, we will see them again and we will be ready,” Downey said. “There’s a toughness that you have to have and I preach this to the guys all of the time, and it’s a mental toughness and also a physical toughness. Tonight I thought we brought the physicality but we weren’t mentally tough all of the time. We have to learn that we just fed off of our emotions and we can’t be that way.”
With the loss the Kerr-Vance Academy Spartans fell to 5-3 on the season.
Cooper was extremely impressed with his squad’s performance, especially against a rival.
“We just responded well and it’s a good sign for the future,” Cooper said.
Crossroads Christian boys’ basketball team came out on top with a 100-74 victory over Kerr-Vance Academy in the championship game of the Kerr-Vance Holiday Invitational.
“I think we got away from what we do best and then they tried to speed the game up and we fell kind of into their hands,” Spartans’ head coach Taron Downey Said of his team after the first quarter.
The Colts went into the locker room at the half with a 42-34 lead over the Spartans. Crossroads performed well in the first half offensively, but had to make some drastic changes on defense in the second half.
“We were fouling a lot in the first half and the officials were calling a lot to try and get back control of the game. We really just talked about moving our feet and intercepting passes,” Colts’ head coach Joseph Cooper said.
The Colts were able to keep the game at their own pace after the break and were able to quickly extend their lead over Kerr-Vance.
“Once we started making careless turnovers, that was what really broke the game up. We were giving them the ball,” Downey said. “And when you give them the ball you can’t get shots up. You can’t win a game without getting shots up.”
The Spartans totaled 31 fouls, mostly in the second half, which gave the Colts a great opportunity to rack up points from the free throw line. When asked about his teams’ fouling, Downey admitted it had a tremendous effect in the second half. There were also six technical fouls called throughout the contest, five of which were on the Spartans.
“You can’t blame the refs, you just have to play the game and tip your hats off to Crossroads, we will see them again and we will be ready,” Downey said. “There’s a toughness that you have to have and I preach this to the guys all of the time, and it’s a mental toughness and also a physical toughness. Tonight I thought we brought the physicality but we weren’t mentally tough all of the time. We have to learn that we just fed off of our emotions and we can’t be that way.”
With the loss the Kerr-Vance Academy Spartans fell to 5-3 on the season.
Cooper was extremely impressed with his squad’s performance, especially against a rival.
“We just responded well and it’s a good sign for the future,” Cooper said.
