Emphatically and decisively, the Greenville Christian Saints sent a message to the rest of the field with their 71-23 win over the Providence Classical Academy Knights in the opening round of the MAIS Class 2A South State Tournament.
The hosts Saints opened the game by scoring seven unanswered points and limited their opponents from Bossier City, La to two points in the first quarter and three points in the third quarter.
The Saints next game in the tournament will be Thursday against Christian Collegiate. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:15 p.m.
When Saints guard Eric Ekanem committed a foul off the ball at the 4:26 mark of the second quarter, it was the Saints first foul called against them of the game. Seconds later, Knights guard Grant Gordan made an open three which was Providence’s first basket in nearly nine minutes of play.
“Playing defense and moving our feet is something that we preach in practice,” said Saints head coach Logan Collins. “Our guards are quick enough that if they move their feet on defense that they can stay in front of anybody.”
Relentless, efficient defense that made it difficult for Providence to get a shot off most of the Knight was the headline. But the sidebars in this game were just as important for the Saints. Collins went about ten deep getting upperclassmen like Michael Mohead, De’Erick Calvin, Jermichael Short and Marcus Anderson critical minutes. The foursome contributed physicality on the boards, scoring and athleticism in transition while the starting unit set the tone defensively.
“The seniors set a great example every day in practice and it was good to get them some key minutes here tonight,” Collins said. “It was especially good to see Mike Mohead play some good minutes tonight because he broke his foot in a high school all star football game and hasn’t been available for us this year due to injury. One thing people are seeing right now is that we have several guys who are capable of carrying the team offensively on any given night.”
Anderson led all scorers with 21. Calvin chipped in with 10 for the Saints. Gordan paced Providence with five points.
