Wesleyan sweeps doubleheader vs. Henderson Collegiate
BY MICHAEL LINDSAYENTERPRISE SPORTS WRITER
HIGH POINT — Wesleyan Christian kept playing well, and eventually Henderson Collegiate relented.
The Trojans matched the Pride’s hot start, built a solid lead into halftime and raced away in the second half to win their boys basketball season-opener 81-61 Tuesday night at Wesleyan.In the girls game, Lilly McRae sank the game-win-ning 3-pointer with 11 seconds left to help lift Wesleyan past Henderson Collegiate 35-33.
“I’m ver y excited for our team for the simple fact that you never know how it’s going to look opening night,” Trojans boys coach C.J. Lee said. “I wanted them to be excited to play and I thought they were. I give our seniors a ton of credit for the simple fact that they understood (Henderson Collegiate) is a team that was runner-up in the 1A last year.“So, you have a team that’s obviously very good, well-coached and is going to be excited to play They’ve played two really great opponents before playing us. So, you’re just wondering how your team is going to respond. I thought we were really good. When the ball is going in the basket, life is good. We want to continue to play and have balance.
“We want to have enthusiasm and energy on both sides of the ball. We’re continuing day-by-day to be as connected as we possibly can be on the floor. That’s what we’re preaching every day. A connected team talks defensively, they talk offensively. Nothing prepares like a game. I was really happy for our seniors setting the tone.”
Kaleb Brooks scored 21 points to lead Wesleyan (1-0), which outscored the Pride 27-14 in the fourth quarter after leading 39-33 at halftime. Kade Darr, who made four 3-pointers, added 18 points, followed by Aisaiah Phillips with 15 and Jacob Chrapliwy with 11 and Josh Wiggins with nine — including a key dunk late.
“We played well,” Brooks said. “We made a lot of plays getting up and down the court. We rebounded pretty well and got up the court. We just played well overall tonight. ... I think our confidence just went up when our coach talked with us and told us to push through no matter what. And then, from there, we just shot up and didn’t come down. It was just energy.”
Both teams started hot, combining to score on 10 of 12 possessions early. But the Trojans went on a 13-4 run late in the second quarter to lead 39-31 with 43.8 left in the half, led by six at halftime and seven at the end of the third.
Wesleyan, however, surged ahead in the fourth.It scored on its first five possessions of the quarter to lead by 16 at 66-50 with 5:40 left. But the Pride (0-3), who reached the NCHSAA 1A state championship last year, trimmed their deficit to nine with 4:43 left.
But Wiggins slammed home a big dunk and Darr followed with a 3 to extend the Trojans’ lead back out.Wesleyan’s advantage peaked at 22 in the final min-ute.
“That fourth quarter tells you everything,” Lee said. “I think we got a little rattled when it got down to nine — credit to their defense, because we knew they’d have a push. I thought the play of the game was us breaking pressure, Aisaiah throws it to Josh and Josh hammers it to give us some separation and some confidence. And that snowballed into some good plays.”
BY MICHAEL LINDSAYENTERPRISE SPORTS WRITER
HIGH POINT — Wesleyan Christian kept playing well, and eventually Henderson Collegiate relented.
The Trojans matched the Pride’s hot start, built a solid lead into halftime and raced away in the second half to win their boys basketball season-opener 81-61 Tuesday night at Wesleyan.In the girls game, Lilly McRae sank the game-win-ning 3-pointer with 11 seconds left to help lift Wesleyan past Henderson Collegiate 35-33.
“I’m ver y excited for our team for the simple fact that you never know how it’s going to look opening night,” Trojans boys coach C.J. Lee said. “I wanted them to be excited to play and I thought they were. I give our seniors a ton of credit for the simple fact that they understood (Henderson Collegiate) is a team that was runner-up in the 1A last year.“So, you have a team that’s obviously very good, well-coached and is going to be excited to play They’ve played two really great opponents before playing us. So, you’re just wondering how your team is going to respond. I thought we were really good. When the ball is going in the basket, life is good. We want to continue to play and have balance.
“We want to have enthusiasm and energy on both sides of the ball. We’re continuing day-by-day to be as connected as we possibly can be on the floor. That’s what we’re preaching every day. A connected team talks defensively, they talk offensively. Nothing prepares like a game. I was really happy for our seniors setting the tone.”
Kaleb Brooks scored 21 points to lead Wesleyan (1-0), which outscored the Pride 27-14 in the fourth quarter after leading 39-33 at halftime. Kade Darr, who made four 3-pointers, added 18 points, followed by Aisaiah Phillips with 15 and Jacob Chrapliwy with 11 and Josh Wiggins with nine — including a key dunk late.
“We played well,” Brooks said. “We made a lot of plays getting up and down the court. We rebounded pretty well and got up the court. We just played well overall tonight. ... I think our confidence just went up when our coach talked with us and told us to push through no matter what. And then, from there, we just shot up and didn’t come down. It was just energy.”
Both teams started hot, combining to score on 10 of 12 possessions early. But the Trojans went on a 13-4 run late in the second quarter to lead 39-31 with 43.8 left in the half, led by six at halftime and seven at the end of the third.
Wesleyan, however, surged ahead in the fourth.It scored on its first five possessions of the quarter to lead by 16 at 66-50 with 5:40 left. But the Pride (0-3), who reached the NCHSAA 1A state championship last year, trimmed their deficit to nine with 4:43 left.
But Wiggins slammed home a big dunk and Darr followed with a 3 to extend the Trojans’ lead back out.Wesleyan’s advantage peaked at 22 in the final min-ute.
“That fourth quarter tells you everything,” Lee said. “I think we got a little rattled when it got down to nine — credit to their defense, because we knew they’d have a push. I thought the play of the game was us breaking pressure, Aisaiah throws it to Josh and Josh hammers it to give us some separation and some confidence. And that snowballed into some good plays.”
