Greensboro Day holds off HPCA, 65-61
BY GREER SMITH
HP oldENTERPRISE SPORTS WRITER
HIGH POINT — An impressive rally wasn’t enough for High Point Christian’s boys basketball team against Greensboro Day on Tuesday night.
Down 16 just short of the five-minute mark in the third quarter, the Cougars took the lead briefly with just over five minutes to go, but couldn’t hold on and fell 65-61 on Senior Night 65-61.
HPCA, playing at home for the first time in five games, fell to 17-9 and 2-4 in the PACIS as it finished the regular season. GDS improves to 29-3 and 5-0 with its regular-season finale set at home against Forsyth Country Day on Thursday.
Jalen Seegars led all scorers with 22 points. Reece Bogan and Lance Boykin added 11 each. De’Shaun Taylor added nine and Tyeren Melton had eight as the Cougars other scorers.
John Newman led the Bengals with 18 points. Solomon Smith had 13 and J.P. Moorman added 11.
“We competed, that was the big thing,” HPCA head coach Joseph Cooper said. “We’ve been on the road a lot, playing some really good teams. This is the time you want to be peaking. We’re playing some of our best basketball right now and we want to continue that.”
In the girls game, GCS established a big lead early and rolled to a 58-28 triumph.
BOYS
High Point Christian’s fortunes swung with the foul trouble of Seegars, who led all scorers with his 22 points.
In the first half, the Cougars were up one before Seegars picked up his third foul and went to the bench with 5:35 left before halftime. Taking advantage, the Bengals started driving through the Cougars defense and went on a 15-6 run to lead 30-22 at the half. The lead eventually peaked at 41-25 at the start of a stretch in which the Bengals blocked four shots in three possessions but couldn’t take advantage
Seegars heated up, scoring seven points in three possessions that helped a 15-5 run over the rest of the quarter that cut the lead to 46-40.
A bucket by Melton and a 3 by Seegars extended the comeback and brought the Cougars within one. They took the lead at 51-50 on Thomas Powell’s hesitation jump shot in the lane and free throw with 5:20 left.
“Jalen really stepped up,” Cooper said. “Every time we needed a bucket it seemed like he came through. He was really hot. We wanted to get him the ball as much as we could.”
Pearce Landry put the Cougars back in front with a 3 at the 5:06 mark and they kept making enough plays to keep the lead the rest of the way.
“I told them we needed to settle down,” Greensboro Day coach Freddy Johnson said. “We were trying to showboat too much instead of making the simple plays. We had to get back to playing basketball. We dribbled too much and we settled for jump shots and didn’t go to the basket too much. High Point Christian shot the heck out of the ball but we needed to get to the basket and get them in foul troubleand we had stopped doing that.”
HPCA missed the front end of a one-and one with a chance to tie and Bengals opened a four-point lead before Bogan hit a 3 to make it 59-59 with 2:50 left. Seegars fouled out 20 seconds later, and the Cougars came up short on the front end of another one-and-one with the chance to take the lead with 1:38 to go.
“I really wished he would have had a chance to deliver the last 2:30,” Cooper said. GDS spread its offense and milked the clock on its next possession before Newman started from beyond the arc and drove through the HPCA’s defense for a dunk and a 61-58 lead with 1:03 left.
“That was a set play,” Johnson said. “We were spreading out for him because we figured he could take his man on the left side of the floor and that’s where we started.”
That was the last of eight straight GDS points for Newman.
“I was proud of the way we played when it got down to the nitty-gritty,”Johnson said. “It’s a tough place to place over here and John made a great drive and some great plays. He put us on his back.”
After Bogan missed a 3, Moorman hit two free throws for a fi ve-point lead with under a minute left, and GDS did just enough at the free-throw line the rest of the way.
“The foul count in the fourth hurt us, 14 free throws to three, that was big, them getting to the line and taking advantage,” Cooper said. “He missed on the front end a one-and-one. When the game is that close, every possession matters that much more.
BY GREER SMITH
HP oldENTERPRISE SPORTS WRITER
HIGH POINT — An impressive rally wasn’t enough for High Point Christian’s boys basketball team against Greensboro Day on Tuesday night.
Down 16 just short of the five-minute mark in the third quarter, the Cougars took the lead briefly with just over five minutes to go, but couldn’t hold on and fell 65-61 on Senior Night 65-61.
HPCA, playing at home for the first time in five games, fell to 17-9 and 2-4 in the PACIS as it finished the regular season. GDS improves to 29-3 and 5-0 with its regular-season finale set at home against Forsyth Country Day on Thursday.
Jalen Seegars led all scorers with 22 points. Reece Bogan and Lance Boykin added 11 each. De’Shaun Taylor added nine and Tyeren Melton had eight as the Cougars other scorers.
John Newman led the Bengals with 18 points. Solomon Smith had 13 and J.P. Moorman added 11.
“We competed, that was the big thing,” HPCA head coach Joseph Cooper said. “We’ve been on the road a lot, playing some really good teams. This is the time you want to be peaking. We’re playing some of our best basketball right now and we want to continue that.”
In the girls game, GCS established a big lead early and rolled to a 58-28 triumph.
BOYS
High Point Christian’s fortunes swung with the foul trouble of Seegars, who led all scorers with his 22 points.
In the first half, the Cougars were up one before Seegars picked up his third foul and went to the bench with 5:35 left before halftime. Taking advantage, the Bengals started driving through the Cougars defense and went on a 15-6 run to lead 30-22 at the half. The lead eventually peaked at 41-25 at the start of a stretch in which the Bengals blocked four shots in three possessions but couldn’t take advantage
Seegars heated up, scoring seven points in three possessions that helped a 15-5 run over the rest of the quarter that cut the lead to 46-40.
A bucket by Melton and a 3 by Seegars extended the comeback and brought the Cougars within one. They took the lead at 51-50 on Thomas Powell’s hesitation jump shot in the lane and free throw with 5:20 left.
“Jalen really stepped up,” Cooper said. “Every time we needed a bucket it seemed like he came through. He was really hot. We wanted to get him the ball as much as we could.”
Pearce Landry put the Cougars back in front with a 3 at the 5:06 mark and they kept making enough plays to keep the lead the rest of the way.
“I told them we needed to settle down,” Greensboro Day coach Freddy Johnson said. “We were trying to showboat too much instead of making the simple plays. We had to get back to playing basketball. We dribbled too much and we settled for jump shots and didn’t go to the basket too much. High Point Christian shot the heck out of the ball but we needed to get to the basket and get them in foul troubleand we had stopped doing that.”
HPCA missed the front end of a one-and one with a chance to tie and Bengals opened a four-point lead before Bogan hit a 3 to make it 59-59 with 2:50 left. Seegars fouled out 20 seconds later, and the Cougars came up short on the front end of another one-and-one with the chance to take the lead with 1:38 to go.
“I really wished he would have had a chance to deliver the last 2:30,” Cooper said. GDS spread its offense and milked the clock on its next possession before Newman started from beyond the arc and drove through the HPCA’s defense for a dunk and a 61-58 lead with 1:03 left.
“That was a set play,” Johnson said. “We were spreading out for him because we figured he could take his man on the left side of the floor and that’s where we started.”
That was the last of eight straight GDS points for Newman.
“I was proud of the way we played when it got down to the nitty-gritty,”Johnson said. “It’s a tough place to place over here and John made a great drive and some great plays. He put us on his back.”
After Bogan missed a 3, Moorman hit two free throws for a fi ve-point lead with under a minute left, and GDS did just enough at the free-throw line the rest of the way.
“The foul count in the fourth hurt us, 14 free throws to three, that was big, them getting to the line and taking advantage,” Cooper said. “He missed on the front end a one-and-one. When the game is that close, every possession matters that much more.
