The Greenville Christian School girls basketball team picked up its fourth straight victory Thursday night with a 57-39 home victory over Washington School, and Lady Saints head coach Brother Sandifer said the winning streak is thanks to many of his players stepping up and playing some of the best basketball in their careers.
Greenville Christian’s Williette Kingdom led the Lady Saints (7-3) with 20 points, and Tariyah Washington added 18 more points in the game which saw GCS take a 31-14 lead into halftime.
Kingdom and Washington have been starring all season for the Lady Saints, and now players like Taylor Ellis are also starting to step up big, Coach Sandifer said.
“Taylor had one of the best games she has ever had tonight,” Sandifer said. “She is starting to play with a lot more confidence out there. She was fighting really hard for rebounds all night, and she had at least 10 of them.”
Jordan Hays Middleton led Washington School with 17 points. Meg Giachelli added 14 points of her own.
The Lady Generals, in their first season under Coach Yvette McPherson, fought hard the entire game, but each time they looked to make things interesting, the Lady Saints had an answer.
Coach Sandifer added that it was great having the two independent schools both located inside of Greenville play each other, and he hopes they continue doing so each year.
“I think this is good for the community. We had a good crowd, and there was lots of good sportsmanship shown,” Coach Sandifer said.
Greenville Christian School boys 57, Washington School 7
A well-balanced scoring attack by the Saints, plus a smothering defense, helped them defeat the Generals Thursday night and move their record to 8-3.
The Saints led Washington 20-0 at the end of the first quarter and 30-2 at halftime.
Eric Ekanem led GCS with 10 points, and Ja’Michael Short and and Josiah Claiborne each scored nine points for the Saints. De’Erick Calvin and Jeremiah Hilliard both scored eight points.
“Our defensive intensity was really strong tonight,” GCS Coach Logan Collins said. “I have a gritty team this year that is willing to do what it takes to get things done of the defensive side of the ball.”
Coach Collins added that he has tremendous respect for the Washington School program, and he knows that the Generals will not be down for long.
The Generals defeated the Saints last season, but lost three strong players to graduation (Stephon Hemphill, David Gray and Brett Etheridge) last season. Hemphill was last season’s Delta Democrat-Times Player of the Year.
