HPCA girls, boys reach state finals
Michael Lindsay | Enterprise Sports Writer
HIGH POINT — When Joseph Cooper came to High Point Christian years ago, he noticed the school only hangs banners for state championships in its gymnasium. The Cougars will now have opportunities to hang two.
The fourth-seeded boys team defeated eight-seeded Cary Christian 61-49 while the second-seeded girls team beat third-seeded Forsyth Country Day 61-52 on Friday at HPCA in the semifinals of the NCISAA 3A basketball playoffs.
“It’s great — I’m glad you remember that,” Cooper said of his introduction six years ago. “We don’t have a boys basketball banner here. The last time they were there was Bam’s year and fell just short.
“It’s something we talk all the time about — how cool would it be to be the first team to do it? So, we have a lot of prep to do, a lot of work to do before Saturday. But we’re excited to be there.”
In the championships Saturday at Wingate, the girls — making their first-ever finals appearance — will face top-seeded Asheville Christian (16-9) at 1:30 p.m., followed by the boys against third-seeded Concord Academy (16-16) at 3:30.
“It’s amazing,” HPCA girls coach Brittany Drew said. “This time last year we were out, and I think we all took a personal vendetta to that. We didn’t want yesterday to be our last practice and this to be our last game.
“We said that we’ve come too far to just finish short. Everyone came together and did what we needed to do. I’m so proud of this whole team.”
In the boys game, Darius Kane scored 20 points to lead the Cougars (22-7), who will be making their second-ever finals appearance and their first since Bam Adebayo helped lead the 2016 team to the finals against Providence Day.
Isaiah Sanders added 16 points while Thomas McIntosh, who was limited early by foul trouble, followed with 13 points as HPCA started strong — scoring all 12 points of the opening quarter — and finally took control in the second half.
“Last year it was a disappointment,” Sanders said. “We were all just mentally down. We thought we could’ve had it and we just didn’t do it. So this year we felt like we did the job and now we’re trying to win a state championship.”
Cary (21-9) pulled even late in the second before the Cougars edged ahead 24-22 into halftime. HPCA then scored six of the first eight points of the third to lead by six and opened the fourth on a 10-2 run to lead by 14 with 5:01 left.
“Coach told us to keep our heads — we knew they’d make a run,” Sanders said. “So we just had to keep calm and stay collected. Once we knew they’d get a little run, we knew we had to stay the course and just push through it.”
The Cougars — who lost a tight game, 49-44, against Concord on Jan. 13 — maintained a double-digit lead the rest of the game. Logan Dukes scored 24 points to lead the Knights.
“We had that monkey on our back since last year,” Cooper said. “We didn’t quite get over the hump and it was a very similar situation where Asheville Christian beat us on our home court.
“Going into the offseason, you think about it for a whole year. So, to be back on our home court and to take care of business this time feels great.”
Michael Lindsay | Enterprise Sports Writer
HIGH POINT — When Joseph Cooper came to High Point Christian years ago, he noticed the school only hangs banners for state championships in its gymnasium. The Cougars will now have opportunities to hang two.
The fourth-seeded boys team defeated eight-seeded Cary Christian 61-49 while the second-seeded girls team beat third-seeded Forsyth Country Day 61-52 on Friday at HPCA in the semifinals of the NCISAA 3A basketball playoffs.
“It’s great — I’m glad you remember that,” Cooper said of his introduction six years ago. “We don’t have a boys basketball banner here. The last time they were there was Bam’s year and fell just short.
“It’s something we talk all the time about — how cool would it be to be the first team to do it? So, we have a lot of prep to do, a lot of work to do before Saturday. But we’re excited to be there.”
In the championships Saturday at Wingate, the girls — making their first-ever finals appearance — will face top-seeded Asheville Christian (16-9) at 1:30 p.m., followed by the boys against third-seeded Concord Academy (16-16) at 3:30.
“It’s amazing,” HPCA girls coach Brittany Drew said. “This time last year we were out, and I think we all took a personal vendetta to that. We didn’t want yesterday to be our last practice and this to be our last game.
“We said that we’ve come too far to just finish short. Everyone came together and did what we needed to do. I’m so proud of this whole team.”
In the boys game, Darius Kane scored 20 points to lead the Cougars (22-7), who will be making their second-ever finals appearance and their first since Bam Adebayo helped lead the 2016 team to the finals against Providence Day.
Isaiah Sanders added 16 points while Thomas McIntosh, who was limited early by foul trouble, followed with 13 points as HPCA started strong — scoring all 12 points of the opening quarter — and finally took control in the second half.
“Last year it was a disappointment,” Sanders said. “We were all just mentally down. We thought we could’ve had it and we just didn’t do it. So this year we felt like we did the job and now we’re trying to win a state championship.”
Cary (21-9) pulled even late in the second before the Cougars edged ahead 24-22 into halftime. HPCA then scored six of the first eight points of the third to lead by six and opened the fourth on a 10-2 run to lead by 14 with 5:01 left.
“Coach told us to keep our heads — we knew they’d make a run,” Sanders said. “So we just had to keep calm and stay collected. Once we knew they’d get a little run, we knew we had to stay the course and just push through it.”
The Cougars — who lost a tight game, 49-44, against Concord on Jan. 13 — maintained a double-digit lead the rest of the game. Logan Dukes scored 24 points to lead the Knights.
“We had that monkey on our back since last year,” Cooper said. “We didn’t quite get over the hump and it was a very similar situation where Asheville Christian beat us on our home court.
“Going into the offseason, you think about it for a whole year. So, to be back on our home court and to take care of business this time feels great.”
