Eagles see late lead slip away in conference loss to Gaston Day
• JOE HABINA Special to the Independent Tribune
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• CONCORD – Concord Academy relinquished a double-digit fourth quarter lead in its 70-65 boys basketball loss to visiting Gaston Day Friday. But the Eagles’ final-period downfall may have originated the night before.
• On Thursday, Concord Academy celebrated its own hard-fought five-point victory over a heralded High Point Christian squad. Eagles coach Frank Cantadore, however, feels his team may have been weakened down the stretch by Friday’s pace as a result.
• “We came out really good in that first half (against Gaston Day) and came out strong in the third quarter,” said Cantadore. “We stuck to the plan. I thought our zone did really well against this team.
• “Unfortunately, I think we kind of ran out of gas. We had a big win against High Point last night, and I think it kind of showed with our legs in the fourth quarter, and we made some mistakes we shouldn’t have.”
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• Friday’s Metrolina Athletic Conference loss halted Concord Academy’s three-game winning streak. The Eagles fell to 8-13 overall and 3-3 in league play.
• Their two losses to Gaston Day (17-1, 6-0), one of the top-ranked teams in the state, have been by a combined seven points. The Spartans haven’t lost since Nov. 26.
• Concord Academy held the lead from the end of the first quarter through the three-minute mark of the last quarter. The Eagles led by as many as 13 points, 46-33, with 3:08 left in the third quarter.
• Evan Montanari’s pair of free throws cut Gaston Day’s deficit to 48-40 near the end of the third period, but when Concord Academy’s D.J. Cuttino scored the final points of the quarter by dribbling around Kany Tchanda’s pick and drilling a 17-foot jumper from the right wing, the Eagles carried a 50-40 edge in to the fourth.
• The Spartans nearly filled all of that fourth-quarter hole in the first two-and-a-half minutes. Cuttino made the second of a two-shot foul, and when Tucker Johnson finished Jayden Munson’s pretty assist with a dunk that shook the gym, it gave Concord Academy a 55-50 edge and the impression that Gaston Day’s run may have been a mirage.
• “I felt like we had control of the game until about the last four minutes,” said Cantadore. “That hurt us.”
• After Johnson’s dunk, Concord Academy was held scoreless for nearly the next three minutes. During that stretch, Gaston Day flipped its five-point deficit in to a five-point advantage.
• Reserve guard Chase Owens scored all four of his points during the Spartans’ 10-0 run, and leading scorer Chris Britt also provided a pair of buckets. Owens provided a spark over the entire final quarter, adding two rebounds, two steals and an assist.
• Three times over the final 1:20, Concord Academy narrowed the Gaston Day lead to three points. Cuttino, who finished with 17 points and five assists, dropped his second 3-pointer over eight seconds with seven seconds left on the clock to make the score 68-65.
• But Britt, who notched 19 of his game-high 27 points in the second half, made his last of three pairs of free throws inside the game’s final half-minute with three seconds remaining to clinch the win.
• “We felt like if we could hand around, hang around we’d give ourselves a chance in the fourth quarter,” said Gaston Day coach Trent McAllister. “We dug in a little bit defensively and extended our pressure a little bit more. It seemed to be to our benefit. We got a few more stops and a few more easy buckets.”
• Tchanda, a rangy 6-foot-9-inch sophomore, and Munson, a crafty senior guard, paced Concord Academy in the first half with 14 and 10 points, respectively. Tchanda, who scored his team’s final six points of the first half, led the Eagles with 20 points, five rebounds and three steals.
• Tchanda, 6-8 senior Albert Diarra, and the 6-5 Johnson (four blocks) negated the height of Gaston Day’s Callum Richard, but the 6-10 junior erupted for 13 of his 20 points in the second half and grabbed a game-best 10 rebounds.
• Concord Academy faces Asheville School on Saturday, while Gaston Day travels to Gaston Christian on Tuesday.
• SCORING SUMMARY
• Gaston Day 13 12 15 30 – 70
• Concord Academy 15 19 16 15 – 65
• GASTON DAY – Evan Montanari 12, Owens 4, Chris Britt 27, Fayed 7, Callum Richard 20
• CONCORD ACADEMY – Jayden Munson 12, Johnson 8, Cvetkovic 4, D.J. Cuttino 17, Diarra 4, Kany Tchanda 20
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• JOE HABINA Special to the Independent Tribune
•
• CONCORD – Concord Academy relinquished a double-digit fourth quarter lead in its 70-65 boys basketball loss to visiting Gaston Day Friday. But the Eagles’ final-period downfall may have originated the night before.
• On Thursday, Concord Academy celebrated its own hard-fought five-point victory over a heralded High Point Christian squad. Eagles coach Frank Cantadore, however, feels his team may have been weakened down the stretch by Friday’s pace as a result.
• “We came out really good in that first half (against Gaston Day) and came out strong in the third quarter,” said Cantadore. “We stuck to the plan. I thought our zone did really well against this team.
• “Unfortunately, I think we kind of ran out of gas. We had a big win against High Point last night, and I think it kind of showed with our legs in the fourth quarter, and we made some mistakes we shouldn’t have.”
•
•
• Friday’s Metrolina Athletic Conference loss halted Concord Academy’s three-game winning streak. The Eagles fell to 8-13 overall and 3-3 in league play.
• Their two losses to Gaston Day (17-1, 6-0), one of the top-ranked teams in the state, have been by a combined seven points. The Spartans haven’t lost since Nov. 26.
• Concord Academy held the lead from the end of the first quarter through the three-minute mark of the last quarter. The Eagles led by as many as 13 points, 46-33, with 3:08 left in the third quarter.
• Evan Montanari’s pair of free throws cut Gaston Day’s deficit to 48-40 near the end of the third period, but when Concord Academy’s D.J. Cuttino scored the final points of the quarter by dribbling around Kany Tchanda’s pick and drilling a 17-foot jumper from the right wing, the Eagles carried a 50-40 edge in to the fourth.
• The Spartans nearly filled all of that fourth-quarter hole in the first two-and-a-half minutes. Cuttino made the second of a two-shot foul, and when Tucker Johnson finished Jayden Munson’s pretty assist with a dunk that shook the gym, it gave Concord Academy a 55-50 edge and the impression that Gaston Day’s run may have been a mirage.
• “I felt like we had control of the game until about the last four minutes,” said Cantadore. “That hurt us.”
• After Johnson’s dunk, Concord Academy was held scoreless for nearly the next three minutes. During that stretch, Gaston Day flipped its five-point deficit in to a five-point advantage.
• Reserve guard Chase Owens scored all four of his points during the Spartans’ 10-0 run, and leading scorer Chris Britt also provided a pair of buckets. Owens provided a spark over the entire final quarter, adding two rebounds, two steals and an assist.
• Three times over the final 1:20, Concord Academy narrowed the Gaston Day lead to three points. Cuttino, who finished with 17 points and five assists, dropped his second 3-pointer over eight seconds with seven seconds left on the clock to make the score 68-65.
• But Britt, who notched 19 of his game-high 27 points in the second half, made his last of three pairs of free throws inside the game’s final half-minute with three seconds remaining to clinch the win.
• “We felt like if we could hand around, hang around we’d give ourselves a chance in the fourth quarter,” said Gaston Day coach Trent McAllister. “We dug in a little bit defensively and extended our pressure a little bit more. It seemed to be to our benefit. We got a few more stops and a few more easy buckets.”
• Tchanda, a rangy 6-foot-9-inch sophomore, and Munson, a crafty senior guard, paced Concord Academy in the first half with 14 and 10 points, respectively. Tchanda, who scored his team’s final six points of the first half, led the Eagles with 20 points, five rebounds and three steals.
• Tchanda, 6-8 senior Albert Diarra, and the 6-5 Johnson (four blocks) negated the height of Gaston Day’s Callum Richard, but the 6-10 junior erupted for 13 of his 20 points in the second half and grabbed a game-best 10 rebounds.
• Concord Academy faces Asheville School on Saturday, while Gaston Day travels to Gaston Christian on Tuesday.
• SCORING SUMMARY
• Gaston Day 13 12 15 30 – 70
• Concord Academy 15 19 16 15 – 65
• GASTON DAY – Evan Montanari 12, Owens 4, Chris Britt 27, Fayed 7, Callum Richard 20
• CONCORD ACADEMY – Jayden Munson 12, Johnson 8, Cvetkovic 4, D.J. Cuttino 17, Diarra 4, Kany Tchanda 20
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