Oak Hill overpowers Christ School
ARDEN - Seats were hard to come by Friday night at Christ School with a crowd of almost 1,200 people on hand to watch the highly-touted matchup against basketball powerhouse and defending national champion Oak Hill Academy (Va.).
Both teams looked locked in for what appeared to be a good matchup.
The game did not disappoint, as both teams came out strong early on offense. The Greenies were able to keep the game close early with efficient shooting from three-point range. However, the Warriors’ size and athleticism proved to be too much as they were able to pull away and win the game 89-65 on the road.
“It was electric tonight, it is always fun playing competition like that,” Greenies senior William Fleming said. “Preparing and playing teams like this is a lot of fun.”
Christ School (17-8) struggled in the first half, but adjusted to the fast-paced game in the second and were able to cut down the large lead by the Warriors. Senior Matt Halvorsen (16 points) and junior Giir Ring (13 points) helped lead the team and were both effective from three-point range. Fleming also added 12 points along with Justice Ajobor who had nine points. Halvorsen, who has signed with Western Carolina University, believes the game will motivate his team as it prepares for next week.
“We take every game, it’s only a loss if you take it as a loss and do not recover from it,” Halvorsen said. “We will bounce back next week, we have three big games next week.”
The Warriors (20-3) were able to take control early behind the strong play of Creighton commit Ty-Shon Alexander who led the team with 31 points. Kansas commit Billy Preston also had 16 points and Mississippi commit Devontae Shuler had 12 points. Alexander credited his opponent after the game for putting up a tough fight.
“(The Greenies) are a very good team, they have a lot of potential,” Alexander said. “I cannot wait to see how they come out the rest of the year.”
Greenies coach Scott Willard knew coming into the game that it would be a tough one for his team, but believes his players responded well against their opponent. With a challenging slate of games approaching next week, Willard will work to overcome some issues he saw in Friday’s game.
“We had bits and pieces today where we played well, and we thought we could compete, but overall our guard play could not match theirs,” Willard said. “We will have to be better next week if we want a better result.”
The game also helped raise awareness for people in need as many proceeds went towards The Access to Success Foundation which will help provide shoes to people in need in Nigeria. Willard thanked the community for the support it provided Friday.
“Obviously there was a tough result tonight,” Willard said. “However, the true outcome today is we helped a lot of people and our community really supported us.”
The Greenies will look to recover quickly next week as they face Asheville School on Tuesday followed by two tough matchups including a showdown with nationally-ranked La Lumiere (Ind.) next Saturday.
“We are looking to be competitive every game on a really tough schedule and make a run at state,” Willard said.
ARDEN - Seats were hard to come by Friday night at Christ School with a crowd of almost 1,200 people on hand to watch the highly-touted matchup against basketball powerhouse and defending national champion Oak Hill Academy (Va.).
Both teams looked locked in for what appeared to be a good matchup.
The game did not disappoint, as both teams came out strong early on offense. The Greenies were able to keep the game close early with efficient shooting from three-point range. However, the Warriors’ size and athleticism proved to be too much as they were able to pull away and win the game 89-65 on the road.
“It was electric tonight, it is always fun playing competition like that,” Greenies senior William Fleming said. “Preparing and playing teams like this is a lot of fun.”
Christ School (17-8) struggled in the first half, but adjusted to the fast-paced game in the second and were able to cut down the large lead by the Warriors. Senior Matt Halvorsen (16 points) and junior Giir Ring (13 points) helped lead the team and were both effective from three-point range. Fleming also added 12 points along with Justice Ajobor who had nine points. Halvorsen, who has signed with Western Carolina University, believes the game will motivate his team as it prepares for next week.
“We take every game, it’s only a loss if you take it as a loss and do not recover from it,” Halvorsen said. “We will bounce back next week, we have three big games next week.”
The Warriors (20-3) were able to take control early behind the strong play of Creighton commit Ty-Shon Alexander who led the team with 31 points. Kansas commit Billy Preston also had 16 points and Mississippi commit Devontae Shuler had 12 points. Alexander credited his opponent after the game for putting up a tough fight.
“(The Greenies) are a very good team, they have a lot of potential,” Alexander said. “I cannot wait to see how they come out the rest of the year.”
Greenies coach Scott Willard knew coming into the game that it would be a tough one for his team, but believes his players responded well against their opponent. With a challenging slate of games approaching next week, Willard will work to overcome some issues he saw in Friday’s game.
“We had bits and pieces today where we played well, and we thought we could compete, but overall our guard play could not match theirs,” Willard said. “We will have to be better next week if we want a better result.”
The game also helped raise awareness for people in need as many proceeds went towards The Access to Success Foundation which will help provide shoes to people in need in Nigeria. Willard thanked the community for the support it provided Friday.
“Obviously there was a tough result tonight,” Willard said. “However, the true outcome today is we helped a lot of people and our community really supported us.”
The Greenies will look to recover quickly next week as they face Asheville School on Tuesday followed by two tough matchups including a showdown with nationally-ranked La Lumiere (Ind.) next Saturday.
“We are looking to be competitive every game on a really tough schedule and make a run at state,” Willard said.
