McLean ties Village record with 44 points in victory
By Rodd BaxleyFAYETTEVILLE OBSERVER
Staff writer
The famous 60-second ball drop on New Year’s Eve in Times Square is a short-lived moment. For 32 minutes on Monday afternoon, Zavian McLean made a Wilson ball drop at will — through the nets inside Village Christian Academy’s gym.
The senior closed 2019 with some fireworks of his own, tying the Knights’ single-game scoring record with 44 points in Village’s 94-53 win over Sharpstown (Texas) in the VCA Holiday tournament.
“It might be the best (performance) of my career,” said McLean, who also passed 1,900 points for his career with the stellar showing.
“I’ve never scored 40 before. … I was glad I was able to put on a show for everybody and get a win.”
And McLean, who is set to play college basketball at Columbia University in New York next season, scored in a variety of ways throughout the game to help the Knights (11-2) earn their sixth consecutive victory.
“I think the last time we talked it was after the Trinity (Christian) game (on Nov. 26) and I told you that I wasn’t playing my best basketball,” said McLean, who scored 23 points in the first 16 minutes
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on Monday and 21 in the second half.
“I think that now, going into the new year, I just want to show that I can do a lot more than what I’ve been showing. This is a good start.”
In late November, McLean scored 35 points in Village’s 79-70 loss to Southern Durham in the Hoops and Dreams Showcase at Methodist University. But he said Monday’s performance, which included a pair of 3-pointers and six free throws, was “by far” his best of the season.
“He got going early and we just rode him until the end of the game,” said Village Christian coach Kurtis Darden.
“He got off to a great start and anytime I see something that’s working, I’m like, ‘If it ain’t broken, don’t try to fix it.’ Once he put the ball in the cup the first couple of times down court, we kept calling his number. Because of that, he kept producing.”
Village Christian led 17-12 at the end of the first quarter, but dominated the next two periods with a 57-28 margin. Jalen Higgins scored 17 points, including five 3-pointers, with Justin Thomas and Josh Reid adding 10 points apiece to round out the Knights in double figures. Higgins drilled four shots in a row from long range in a 32-14 third period for Village.
“Everything looks good whenyou’remakingshots,” Darden said.
“. … Once we went on that run in the first half, you could kind of see how the game was going to go. I think the other team is, by far, better than they showed today. I just think today was a good day to end 2019 for us.”
Darden knows his team can’t shoot the ball at that rate in every game, but he likes his team’s chances the rest of the way.
“If we come out and play like this, I don’t think there’s too many teams in the state of North Carolina that can beat us,” Darden added.
Josh Farmer scored 19 points to lead the Apollos (6-5), who are coached by former Pine Forest standout Ben Garrett.
Moving forward, McLean said his focus is on “just being dominant, being really assertive and knowing I’m the leader of this team.”
“We’re making some good strides,” McLean said of his team, which will travel to Cape Fear Christian Academy in Erwin on Friday. “We’re 11-2 right now and our schedule shows that we’vebeenplayingandbeating some really good teams. The only two games we lost were in the Hoops and Dreams tournament. Ever since that we just wanted to be better. We know we can play better. … We know the ultimate goal is a conference championship and state championship. If we can do that, we’ll be happy.”
Staff writer Rodd Baxley can be reached at rbaxley@fayobserver.
com or 910-486-3519.
By Rodd BaxleyFAYETTEVILLE OBSERVER
Staff writer
The famous 60-second ball drop on New Year’s Eve in Times Square is a short-lived moment. For 32 minutes on Monday afternoon, Zavian McLean made a Wilson ball drop at will — through the nets inside Village Christian Academy’s gym.
The senior closed 2019 with some fireworks of his own, tying the Knights’ single-game scoring record with 44 points in Village’s 94-53 win over Sharpstown (Texas) in the VCA Holiday tournament.
“It might be the best (performance) of my career,” said McLean, who also passed 1,900 points for his career with the stellar showing.
“I’ve never scored 40 before. … I was glad I was able to put on a show for everybody and get a win.”
And McLean, who is set to play college basketball at Columbia University in New York next season, scored in a variety of ways throughout the game to help the Knights (11-2) earn their sixth consecutive victory.
“I think the last time we talked it was after the Trinity (Christian) game (on Nov. 26) and I told you that I wasn’t playing my best basketball,” said McLean, who scored 23 points in the first 16 minutes
cfff
on Monday and 21 in the second half.
“I think that now, going into the new year, I just want to show that I can do a lot more than what I’ve been showing. This is a good start.”
In late November, McLean scored 35 points in Village’s 79-70 loss to Southern Durham in the Hoops and Dreams Showcase at Methodist University. But he said Monday’s performance, which included a pair of 3-pointers and six free throws, was “by far” his best of the season.
“He got going early and we just rode him until the end of the game,” said Village Christian coach Kurtis Darden.
“He got off to a great start and anytime I see something that’s working, I’m like, ‘If it ain’t broken, don’t try to fix it.’ Once he put the ball in the cup the first couple of times down court, we kept calling his number. Because of that, he kept producing.”
Village Christian led 17-12 at the end of the first quarter, but dominated the next two periods with a 57-28 margin. Jalen Higgins scored 17 points, including five 3-pointers, with Justin Thomas and Josh Reid adding 10 points apiece to round out the Knights in double figures. Higgins drilled four shots in a row from long range in a 32-14 third period for Village.
“Everything looks good whenyou’remakingshots,” Darden said.
“. … Once we went on that run in the first half, you could kind of see how the game was going to go. I think the other team is, by far, better than they showed today. I just think today was a good day to end 2019 for us.”
Darden knows his team can’t shoot the ball at that rate in every game, but he likes his team’s chances the rest of the way.
“If we come out and play like this, I don’t think there’s too many teams in the state of North Carolina that can beat us,” Darden added.
Josh Farmer scored 19 points to lead the Apollos (6-5), who are coached by former Pine Forest standout Ben Garrett.
Moving forward, McLean said his focus is on “just being dominant, being really assertive and knowing I’m the leader of this team.”
“We’re making some good strides,” McLean said of his team, which will travel to Cape Fear Christian Academy in Erwin on Friday. “We’re 11-2 right now and our schedule shows that we’vebeenplayingandbeating some really good teams. The only two games we lost were in the Hoops and Dreams tournament. Ever since that we just wanted to be better. We know we can play better. … We know the ultimate goal is a conference championship and state championship. If we can do that, we’ll be happy.”
Staff writer Rodd Baxley can be reached at rbaxley@fayobserver.
com or 910-486-3519.
