High Point Christian captures crown at Holiday Invitational
Raleigh, N.C. — Most Outstanding Player ‘Bam’ Adebayo led the High Point Christian Cougars to a commanding 75-63 win over the Arlington Country Day Apaches in the championship game of the John Wall Bracket at the HighSchoolOT Holiday Invitational on Wednesday night.
The first thing High Point Christian coach Brandon Clifford said after the win was “I am extremely proud of my basketball team.” He went on. "This wasn’t coaching. This was a bunch of guys who decided they wanted to win.”
High Point Christian came out of the gate hot, grabbing an early 10-point lead. The Apaches answered, closing the gap to 16-13 to end the first quarter.
Arlington Country Day responded in a big way. They shot 11 of 26 from the floor and got points from seven players.
Adebayo found himself in foul trouble early, picking up his third personal foul midway through the second quarter. Clifford said his team “finished the half on a sour note.” The Cougars were behind 32-31 at the end of the half, the first time they trailed all tournament.
Michael Hueitt Jr., tournament MVP, said that during halftime, coach Clifford told the team to “step it up and play like us.” Adebayo added, "The players, coaches and assistants had to change [their] mindset in the second half.”
The Cougars took their coach's words to heart, outscoring the Apaches 23-11 in the third quarter. Arlington Country day coach Shaun Wiseman said that the biggest difference after the break was that High Point Christian “made shots and we didn’t.”
"The Cougars took it to another level in the third quarter and we didn’t match their intensity,” Wiseman said.
Senior Koch Bar agreed with his coach, saying, “I think they just came out tough, tougher than us.”
The Apaches stepped it up in the fourth quarter, but they were unable to close the wide margin.
Despite the disappointing outcome, Wiseman admitted that there were positives to take away from the week." This team is getting better game by game,” he said.
Adebayo finished the game with 24 points, leading all scorers, and added 15 rebounds. Hueitt Jr. scored 23 points and had 5 rebounds to finish the game for the Cougars.
This is the first win for the High Point Christian Cougars at the HighSchoolOT Holiday Invitational Tournament.
Raleigh, N.C. — Most Outstanding Player ‘Bam’ Adebayo led the High Point Christian Cougars to a commanding 75-63 win over the Arlington Country Day Apaches in the championship game of the John Wall Bracket at the HighSchoolOT Holiday Invitational on Wednesday night.
The first thing High Point Christian coach Brandon Clifford said after the win was “I am extremely proud of my basketball team.” He went on. "This wasn’t coaching. This was a bunch of guys who decided they wanted to win.”
High Point Christian came out of the gate hot, grabbing an early 10-point lead. The Apaches answered, closing the gap to 16-13 to end the first quarter.
Arlington Country Day responded in a big way. They shot 11 of 26 from the floor and got points from seven players.
Adebayo found himself in foul trouble early, picking up his third personal foul midway through the second quarter. Clifford said his team “finished the half on a sour note.” The Cougars were behind 32-31 at the end of the half, the first time they trailed all tournament.
Michael Hueitt Jr., tournament MVP, said that during halftime, coach Clifford told the team to “step it up and play like us.” Adebayo added, "The players, coaches and assistants had to change [their] mindset in the second half.”
The Cougars took their coach's words to heart, outscoring the Apaches 23-11 in the third quarter. Arlington Country day coach Shaun Wiseman said that the biggest difference after the break was that High Point Christian “made shots and we didn’t.”
"The Cougars took it to another level in the third quarter and we didn’t match their intensity,” Wiseman said.
Senior Koch Bar agreed with his coach, saying, “I think they just came out tough, tougher than us.”
The Apaches stepped it up in the fourth quarter, but they were unable to close the wide margin.
Despite the disappointing outcome, Wiseman admitted that there were positives to take away from the week." This team is getting better game by game,” he said.
Adebayo finished the game with 24 points, leading all scorers, and added 15 rebounds. Hueitt Jr. scored 23 points and had 5 rebounds to finish the game for the Cougars.
This is the first win for the High Point Christian Cougars at the HighSchoolOT Holiday Invitational Tournament.
