Wesleyan tops rival HPCA
• Michael Lindsay | Enterprise Sports Writer
HIGH POINT — Wesleyan Christian surged ahead and hung on.
The Trojans pulled ahead over the middle two quarters to lead by double digits and held on to beat archrival High Point Christian 55-49 in NCISAA boys basketball Friday night in front of a big crowd at Wesleyan.
In the girls game, Wesleyan made a couple key plays in the final minutes — including a pivotal 3-pointer by Lillian McRae with just over a minute left — to beat High Point Christian 39-37.
“It was a great high school environment,” Trojans boys coach CJ Lee said. “That game had everything you could ask for. It had some drama, it had some runs, it had some emotion. It had some not-so-cool moments, also,” he said with a smile. “But it was a great high school environment.”
Jordan Dancy scored 16 points to lead Wesleyan (3-5), which turned a four-point deficit after the first into a 15-point lead heading to the fourth. Trenton Jackson added 10 points, followed by Jefferson McLamb and Luke Grace with nine points each.
The Trojans scored the first 14 points of the second to lead 29-19 with 2:31 left in the quarter and took a 31-23 lead into halftime. They then went on a 14-4 run late in the third and early in the fourth to stretch their advantage to 16 with 6:38 left in the game.
“It was being more aggressive,” said Dancy, a 6-foot-5 sophomore forward. “Boxing out, getting boards, making hits — all that. We had to be more aggressive. One of the first things coming out was talking about toughness. We got that done in the second quarter. From there on out, it was pretty good.”
Isaiah Sanders scored 18 points to lead the Cougars (5-2), followed by Darius Kane with 12 points. HPCA, which struggled particularly on offense as Wesleyan pulled away, turned up the pressure defensively down the stretch and finally started hitting shots.
It got within seven with 4:13 left and within six with 1:22 left but couldn’t pull any closer, as the teams traded baskets in the final seconds.
“It certainly wasn’t our best game,” HPCA coach Joseph Cooper said. “We just turned it over a lot, missed a lot of free throws and layups. But it was a great environment — hats off to their fans and our fans. It was great to have everyone back in the building and excited for their team.”
• Michael Lindsay | Enterprise Sports Writer
HIGH POINT — Wesleyan Christian surged ahead and hung on.
The Trojans pulled ahead over the middle two quarters to lead by double digits and held on to beat archrival High Point Christian 55-49 in NCISAA boys basketball Friday night in front of a big crowd at Wesleyan.
In the girls game, Wesleyan made a couple key plays in the final minutes — including a pivotal 3-pointer by Lillian McRae with just over a minute left — to beat High Point Christian 39-37.
“It was a great high school environment,” Trojans boys coach CJ Lee said. “That game had everything you could ask for. It had some drama, it had some runs, it had some emotion. It had some not-so-cool moments, also,” he said with a smile. “But it was a great high school environment.”
Jordan Dancy scored 16 points to lead Wesleyan (3-5), which turned a four-point deficit after the first into a 15-point lead heading to the fourth. Trenton Jackson added 10 points, followed by Jefferson McLamb and Luke Grace with nine points each.
The Trojans scored the first 14 points of the second to lead 29-19 with 2:31 left in the quarter and took a 31-23 lead into halftime. They then went on a 14-4 run late in the third and early in the fourth to stretch their advantage to 16 with 6:38 left in the game.
“It was being more aggressive,” said Dancy, a 6-foot-5 sophomore forward. “Boxing out, getting boards, making hits — all that. We had to be more aggressive. One of the first things coming out was talking about toughness. We got that done in the second quarter. From there on out, it was pretty good.”
Isaiah Sanders scored 18 points to lead the Cougars (5-2), followed by Darius Kane with 12 points. HPCA, which struggled particularly on offense as Wesleyan pulled away, turned up the pressure defensively down the stretch and finally started hitting shots.
It got within seven with 4:13 left and within six with 1:22 left but couldn’t pull any closer, as the teams traded baskets in the final seconds.
“It certainly wasn’t our best game,” HPCA coach Joseph Cooper said. “We just turned it over a lot, missed a lot of free throws and layups. But it was a great environment — hats off to their fans and our fans. It was great to have everyone back in the building and excited for their team.”
