Defensive effort undercuts Greenfield in loss to Durham Academy, 72-63
By Jack Frederick jfrederick@wilsontimes.com | 265-7824 | Twitter: @_jackfrederick
RALEIGH — With a chance to rebound in its second John Wall Holiday Invitational matchup, Greenfield School’s lackadaisical second-half defense gave the game away in a 72-63 loss to Durham Academy on Saturday afternoon.
“We knew coming in here this tournament was going to be tough with a lot of good teams. I thought we took a couple steps back today,” head coach Rob Salter said. “With five seniors, you wouldn’t think you’d come in here not focused, with energy and just fundamentals. I told the seniors after the game, this is the first time I’m kind of disappointed because I didn’t think we were focused, especially in the second half.”
Shooting just under 42%, the Knights didn’t have their highest offensive output against the Cavaliers in the 12:30 p.m. game at Broughton High’s Holliday Gymnasium. They missed 6-of-17 free-throw attempts and shot just 28% from beyond the 3-point arc, well below their average.
But the takeaway for Greenfield was its defensive struggles in the second half, where the game’s leading scorer, Cavaliers’ junior guard Cole Sinclair, flourished, finishing with 27 points while teammate Toby Harris added 20 more.
“Our defensive effort was bad,” said 6-foot-7 senior Trey Pittman, who led Greenfield with 19 points. “It’s been good lately all year. We’re a group of seniors and we should be bringing more energy and we just didn’t bring the energy.”
Coming off an 87-43 loss to Montverde — the No. 2 team in the national MaxPreps.com Computer Rankings — on Friday, the Cavaliers were determined to bring an energy that the Knights failed to match. On Friday, the obvious size issues of playing an entire roster above 6-1, including North Carolina signee Day’Ron Sharpe, presented obvious size issues for Durham Academy’s offense.
So when it came time to play fellow North Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Association member Greenfield, with just two players 6-5 or taller, the Cavaliers fed on it.
“We were able to grow from that (loss), and tonight when we played a team that was similar in size and stature to us, I think we were much more comfortable out on the floor on both ends,” Durham Academy head coach Tim McKenna said. “Obviously, I think that we did a better job shooting with the fact we didn’t have 6-foot-7, 6-foot-9 guys guarding us on the wing helps.”
The Knights (15-4) had their hands full with an electric Cavaliers’ offense just as dangerous outside as it was in the paint, but Greenfield still played well enough to stay in the game until the waning seconds of the third quarter.
The Knights trailed by just three after the first quarter and went on a run to take the lead in the second quarter, which was upended by a last-second shot by Durham Academy that tied the game at 25 at halftime.
After a first half in which neither team led by more than five points, Durham Academy took over in the second half. The third quarter saw some of the Cavaliers’ best shooting in the game. For the game, Durham Academy shot 63% from 3-point land, where Cole made 7-of-10 shots by himself.
It was toward the end of that third quarter that senior Dji Bailey felt the game slipping out of reach as the deficit climbed from as low as four points into the double digits.
“I would say before the fourth quarter, they kind of took over toward the end of the third,” Bailey said. “They hit two 3s to end the third quarter and then in the fourth quarter just continued to get more.”
Down the stretch, Greenfield could not mount a comeback. A shot from Jordan Lynch brought the team as close as five points midway the final quarter before that run was stifled for good.
After a second-straight loss, the Knights are most concerned with how they can learn from the experience and build on it for later in the season. The team will have one final chance at victory Monday in the David West Bracket seventh-place game against tournament host Raleigh Broughton at 9:30 a.m.
Salter doesn’t want his team to take the experience of playing in the tournament for granted.
“The guys have earned an invite to these things,” Salter said. “And if you looked at us today, we looked like we didn’t earn anything. But we’ve had some really good success and these guys have done a lot of good things, so I just want them to cherish every moment they have when they play in these events. There’s a lot of kids that want to play in this tournament and can’t do it.”
GREENFIELD (63)
Pittman 19, Bailey 12, Lynch 11, Guilford 10, Lebo 2, Peten 3, Evans 6.
DURHAM ACADEMY (72)
Cole 27, Harris 20, Randleman 11, Graves 8, Beischer 4, Chaves 2.
Score by quarters:
Greenfield 11 14 17 21 — 63
Durham Acad. 14 11 22 25 — 72
By Jack Frederick jfrederick@wilsontimes.com | 265-7824 | Twitter: @_jackfrederick
RALEIGH — With a chance to rebound in its second John Wall Holiday Invitational matchup, Greenfield School’s lackadaisical second-half defense gave the game away in a 72-63 loss to Durham Academy on Saturday afternoon.
“We knew coming in here this tournament was going to be tough with a lot of good teams. I thought we took a couple steps back today,” head coach Rob Salter said. “With five seniors, you wouldn’t think you’d come in here not focused, with energy and just fundamentals. I told the seniors after the game, this is the first time I’m kind of disappointed because I didn’t think we were focused, especially in the second half.”
Shooting just under 42%, the Knights didn’t have their highest offensive output against the Cavaliers in the 12:30 p.m. game at Broughton High’s Holliday Gymnasium. They missed 6-of-17 free-throw attempts and shot just 28% from beyond the 3-point arc, well below their average.
But the takeaway for Greenfield was its defensive struggles in the second half, where the game’s leading scorer, Cavaliers’ junior guard Cole Sinclair, flourished, finishing with 27 points while teammate Toby Harris added 20 more.
“Our defensive effort was bad,” said 6-foot-7 senior Trey Pittman, who led Greenfield with 19 points. “It’s been good lately all year. We’re a group of seniors and we should be bringing more energy and we just didn’t bring the energy.”
Coming off an 87-43 loss to Montverde — the No. 2 team in the national MaxPreps.com Computer Rankings — on Friday, the Cavaliers were determined to bring an energy that the Knights failed to match. On Friday, the obvious size issues of playing an entire roster above 6-1, including North Carolina signee Day’Ron Sharpe, presented obvious size issues for Durham Academy’s offense.
So when it came time to play fellow North Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Association member Greenfield, with just two players 6-5 or taller, the Cavaliers fed on it.
“We were able to grow from that (loss), and tonight when we played a team that was similar in size and stature to us, I think we were much more comfortable out on the floor on both ends,” Durham Academy head coach Tim McKenna said. “Obviously, I think that we did a better job shooting with the fact we didn’t have 6-foot-7, 6-foot-9 guys guarding us on the wing helps.”
The Knights (15-4) had their hands full with an electric Cavaliers’ offense just as dangerous outside as it was in the paint, but Greenfield still played well enough to stay in the game until the waning seconds of the third quarter.
The Knights trailed by just three after the first quarter and went on a run to take the lead in the second quarter, which was upended by a last-second shot by Durham Academy that tied the game at 25 at halftime.
After a first half in which neither team led by more than five points, Durham Academy took over in the second half. The third quarter saw some of the Cavaliers’ best shooting in the game. For the game, Durham Academy shot 63% from 3-point land, where Cole made 7-of-10 shots by himself.
It was toward the end of that third quarter that senior Dji Bailey felt the game slipping out of reach as the deficit climbed from as low as four points into the double digits.
“I would say before the fourth quarter, they kind of took over toward the end of the third,” Bailey said. “They hit two 3s to end the third quarter and then in the fourth quarter just continued to get more.”
Down the stretch, Greenfield could not mount a comeback. A shot from Jordan Lynch brought the team as close as five points midway the final quarter before that run was stifled for good.
After a second-straight loss, the Knights are most concerned with how they can learn from the experience and build on it for later in the season. The team will have one final chance at victory Monday in the David West Bracket seventh-place game against tournament host Raleigh Broughton at 9:30 a.m.
Salter doesn’t want his team to take the experience of playing in the tournament for granted.
“The guys have earned an invite to these things,” Salter said. “And if you looked at us today, we looked like we didn’t earn anything. But we’ve had some really good success and these guys have done a lot of good things, so I just want them to cherish every moment they have when they play in these events. There’s a lot of kids that want to play in this tournament and can’t do it.”
GREENFIELD (63)
Pittman 19, Bailey 12, Lynch 11, Guilford 10, Lebo 2, Peten 3, Evans 6.
DURHAM ACADEMY (72)
Cole 27, Harris 20, Randleman 11, Graves 8, Beischer 4, Chaves 2.
Score by quarters:
Greenfield 11 14 17 21 — 63
Durham Acad. 14 11 22 25 — 72
