Calvary Day sweeps Westchester
BY MICHAEL LINDSAY
ENTERPRISE SPORTS WRITER
HIGH POINT — Westchester Country Day had one rough stretch, and that was all that Calvary Day needed.
The Wildcats struggled over the final 3 ½ minutes of the first quarter as the Cougars built a sizable lead and hung on the rest of the way to defeat Westchester 82-68 in Triad Athletic 1A/2A boys basketball Tuesday in Westchester’s Finch Center.
In the girls game, Westchester, in its first season restarting its varsity program, had its bright spots but couldn’t match Calvary in a 72-21 loss.
“I thought Calvary deserved to win,” Wildcats boys coach David Carrier said. “They made a lot of big plays and pretty much led throughout. I feel like there was a stretch at the end of the first quarter where we had some turnovers and they had some run-out layups.
“And when you’re playing catch-up against a team that has as many good ballhandlers as they do, it’s pretty tough. They had a lot of easy buckets in there. But, aside from that, I thought it was a pretty even game. They made the plays. But I’m proud of the guys. It’s early and we’re still trying to find our identity.”
L.J. McCoy scored 20 points to lead Westchester (2-5 overall, 1-2 TAC), which started well to lead early and, for the most part, kept pace the rest of the game. Syrus Sadler and Lantz Lowe each added 16 points, while Nick Brown followed with 14 points.
But Calvary (3-5, 1-1), which was led by Olufemi Boko with 29 points and Jackson Gammons with 22 points, closed the first quarter on a 15-3 run to lead 20-12. It opened the second quarter with a 3-pointer to lead by 11, pushed its lead to as large as 18 and held a 40-27 advantage at halftime.
The Wildcats got as close as seven with 5:43 left in the third before the Cougars extended their lead to as large as 21 with 6:05 left in the game. But again Westchester rallied to pull within nine with 2:15 left. But Calvary got a couple keys stops and baskets to rebuild its double-digit lead.
“They played very good defense,” Carrier said. “And I felt like we rushed it a little bit. When we’d penetrate, we’d rush our play a little bit — instead of kind of coming to a stop and making the right play. But they made the play, so I give them credit.
“Basketball’s a game of runs, and there was really only that one run. We never could make a big run, and they didn’t make any more. That big run was enough, and I think we’ll learn from it because we know that was the difference. Calvary’s just a really good team, and we would’ve had to play really well to beat them.”
BY MICHAEL LINDSAY
ENTERPRISE SPORTS WRITER
HIGH POINT — Westchester Country Day had one rough stretch, and that was all that Calvary Day needed.
The Wildcats struggled over the final 3 ½ minutes of the first quarter as the Cougars built a sizable lead and hung on the rest of the way to defeat Westchester 82-68 in Triad Athletic 1A/2A boys basketball Tuesday in Westchester’s Finch Center.
In the girls game, Westchester, in its first season restarting its varsity program, had its bright spots but couldn’t match Calvary in a 72-21 loss.
“I thought Calvary deserved to win,” Wildcats boys coach David Carrier said. “They made a lot of big plays and pretty much led throughout. I feel like there was a stretch at the end of the first quarter where we had some turnovers and they had some run-out layups.
“And when you’re playing catch-up against a team that has as many good ballhandlers as they do, it’s pretty tough. They had a lot of easy buckets in there. But, aside from that, I thought it was a pretty even game. They made the plays. But I’m proud of the guys. It’s early and we’re still trying to find our identity.”
L.J. McCoy scored 20 points to lead Westchester (2-5 overall, 1-2 TAC), which started well to lead early and, for the most part, kept pace the rest of the game. Syrus Sadler and Lantz Lowe each added 16 points, while Nick Brown followed with 14 points.
But Calvary (3-5, 1-1), which was led by Olufemi Boko with 29 points and Jackson Gammons with 22 points, closed the first quarter on a 15-3 run to lead 20-12. It opened the second quarter with a 3-pointer to lead by 11, pushed its lead to as large as 18 and held a 40-27 advantage at halftime.
The Wildcats got as close as seven with 5:43 left in the third before the Cougars extended their lead to as large as 21 with 6:05 left in the game. But again Westchester rallied to pull within nine with 2:15 left. But Calvary got a couple keys stops and baskets to rebuild its double-digit lead.
“They played very good defense,” Carrier said. “And I felt like we rushed it a little bit. When we’d penetrate, we’d rush our play a little bit — instead of kind of coming to a stop and making the right play. But they made the play, so I give them credit.
“Basketball’s a game of runs, and there was really only that one run. We never could make a big run, and they didn’t make any more. That big run was enough, and I think we’ll learn from it because we know that was the difference. Calvary’s just a really good team, and we would’ve had to play really well to beat them.”
