Led by veteran players Ashton Powell, Darius Williams, Patrick Travis and DJ Scott, the Greenville Christian School Saints outlasted the St. Joseph Catholic School Irish 49-36 Tuesday night.
These players combined with over half of the points scored by the Saints.
After a Greenville Christian 10-0 run against backyard rival St. Joseph Irish, the Saints led for four quarters. In the second half of the game, the Irish cut
the lead to single digits as Junior Armon Hannah began to carry the team on his back. In both second half quarters combined, Hannah scored 12 points with six of those points being gained from behind the 3pt perimeter.
On both sides of the ball both the Irish and Saints played a physical, hard-fought game. The Saints immediately set the tone of the game as Aiden Bryant chipped
in a corner three and a fast break throw down dunk from Travis. Soon after, Hannah was able to respond for the Irish team when he made a power drive to the basket to draw a foul as he sank in a pair of free throws to get his team on the board. John Haggard then follows suit and muscled in an offensive put back under the basket. Late in the third quarter, the Irish were able to cut into the lead to single digits with the effort of Hannah, TJ Phillips, and Julius McCullum. Phillips continued to prove his great
defensive package as he rejected easy buckets around the rim and twice capitalized on and-1 plays. Irish head coach James Hunter preached to his team at the half that they had to ‘win the rebounding game and most importantly don’t allow second chance shots”.
Hunter later reflected that this year’s team is a “brand new team that’s trying to gel together and there was much to learn from this game.”
The Saints continued to stretch the lead and were able to sail by the Irish. Saints head coach, Logan Collins, was very pleased with his team’s.
“The players have to stay consistent,” Coach Collins said.
Coach Collins said his team is willing to work hard day in and day out and have shown their toughness against all opponents. A late 3-point shot attempt made by Scott put a cap on the game and the Saints pocketed another win from their rival. The Saints are 1-0 in district play after Tuesday night. They will go toe to toe with the Washington Generals on Thursday night. Across the way, the Irish and the Riverside Bulldogs will face one another at the Bulldogs home. Both games will tip off at 7:15pm.
Greenville Christian girls 60 St Joseph 25
Jakayla Coats scored 22 points while Na Na Rhodes and Brittany Stallion added 14 points apiece GCS jumped out to a 31 to 18 halftime lead and coasted to a dominant win. GCS will play at home against Washington School Thursday night
