Wesleyan turns back HPCA
BY MICHAEL LINDSAY
ENTERPRISE SPORTS WRITER
HIGH POINT – The Wesleyan Christian boys quickly built a comfortable lead. But it almost proved to be too comfortable.
The Trojans went up by 17 in the first half, pushed their lead to 20 in the second half and hung on as rival High Point Christian whittled it to seven in the final minute before closing out the win 73-62 in PACIS 3A basketball Saturday at High Point University’s Millis Center.
In the girls game, Wesleyan Christian jumped ahead early and defeated High Point Christian 59-23.
“We played good in the first half, but bad in the second half,” Trojans boys coach Keith Gatlin said. “We didn’t defend. We gave up 19 points in the first half and 43 in the second half. We’re not going to go where we want to if we don’t defend.
“Give them credit – they fought and Jalen Seegars did anything he wanted to in the second half. … We defended – it’s plain and simple,” he said of what keyed their first-half run. “I say it all the time: If you don’t defend, you can’t win. That’s the bottom line.”
Aaron Wiggins scored 15 points to lead Wesleyan (8-1 overall, 1-0 PACIS), which used a 21-2 run in the first and second quarters to help lead 34-19 at halftime. Jaylen Hoard and Ian Steere each added 13 points while David Caraher followed with 12 points.
The Cougars led 8-6 with 3:30 left in the first before the Trojans scored 10 of the quarter’s final 12 points to lead 16-10 heading to the second. Wesleyan then scored the first 11 points of the second to lead 27-10 with 2:50 left in the half and rolled into halftime up 15.
“Defensively we were definitely getting stops and getting into our fastbreak,” Wiggins said. “Getting steals lead into the fastbreak. In the second half, we didn’t have the same competitiveness and the same energy defensively. So, that led to them going on a run to get back into the game.”
The Trojans led by 20 twice in the second half – the last time at 50-30 with 1:32 left in the third. They led 32-57 heading to the fourth and 60-43 with 5:13 left in the game. But HPCA went on a
9-9 run to get back within 69-62 with 32 seconds left. Wesleyan hit all four of its final four free throws to seal it.
Jalen Seegars scored 27 points — including 20 in the second half — and Reece Bogan added 23 points on seven 3-pointers as the Cougars (5-3, 0-1) finished with two players in double-figure scoring.
“We played much better in the second half,” said coach Joseph Cooper, in his first season at HPCA. “Our plan going in was that we needed to attack them.
“The first 14 minutes we had drawn zero fouls, and the last two minutes of the second quarter we had five. So, we finally made the adjustment, but it took too long.
“They got out in transition at will in the first half. We took our time getting back on defense. And they’re just so long and athletic that you can’t let it get into a running game. … But we finally started attacking, and Reece got hot from outside. He has that capability. I’m sure it was tough for him, coming back from a concussion. But he showed a lot of grit to perform like that.”
BY MICHAEL LINDSAY
ENTERPRISE SPORTS WRITER
HIGH POINT – The Wesleyan Christian boys quickly built a comfortable lead. But it almost proved to be too comfortable.
The Trojans went up by 17 in the first half, pushed their lead to 20 in the second half and hung on as rival High Point Christian whittled it to seven in the final minute before closing out the win 73-62 in PACIS 3A basketball Saturday at High Point University’s Millis Center.
In the girls game, Wesleyan Christian jumped ahead early and defeated High Point Christian 59-23.
“We played good in the first half, but bad in the second half,” Trojans boys coach Keith Gatlin said. “We didn’t defend. We gave up 19 points in the first half and 43 in the second half. We’re not going to go where we want to if we don’t defend.
“Give them credit – they fought and Jalen Seegars did anything he wanted to in the second half. … We defended – it’s plain and simple,” he said of what keyed their first-half run. “I say it all the time: If you don’t defend, you can’t win. That’s the bottom line.”
Aaron Wiggins scored 15 points to lead Wesleyan (8-1 overall, 1-0 PACIS), which used a 21-2 run in the first and second quarters to help lead 34-19 at halftime. Jaylen Hoard and Ian Steere each added 13 points while David Caraher followed with 12 points.
The Cougars led 8-6 with 3:30 left in the first before the Trojans scored 10 of the quarter’s final 12 points to lead 16-10 heading to the second. Wesleyan then scored the first 11 points of the second to lead 27-10 with 2:50 left in the half and rolled into halftime up 15.
“Defensively we were definitely getting stops and getting into our fastbreak,” Wiggins said. “Getting steals lead into the fastbreak. In the second half, we didn’t have the same competitiveness and the same energy defensively. So, that led to them going on a run to get back into the game.”
The Trojans led by 20 twice in the second half – the last time at 50-30 with 1:32 left in the third. They led 32-57 heading to the fourth and 60-43 with 5:13 left in the game. But HPCA went on a
9-9 run to get back within 69-62 with 32 seconds left. Wesleyan hit all four of its final four free throws to seal it.
Jalen Seegars scored 27 points — including 20 in the second half — and Reece Bogan added 23 points on seven 3-pointers as the Cougars (5-3, 0-1) finished with two players in double-figure scoring.
“We played much better in the second half,” said coach Joseph Cooper, in his first season at HPCA. “Our plan going in was that we needed to attack them.
“The first 14 minutes we had drawn zero fouls, and the last two minutes of the second quarter we had five. So, we finally made the adjustment, but it took too long.
“They got out in transition at will in the first half. We took our time getting back on defense. And they’re just so long and athletic that you can’t let it get into a running game. … But we finally started attacking, and Reece got hot from outside. He has that capability. I’m sure it was tough for him, coming back from a concussion. But he showed a lot of grit to perform like that.”
