Fresh off the major victory away at Atlantic Shores, the WCA Boy’s Varsity Basketball Team entered into the first few games of their Metro schedule, as well as an add-on tourney against a Class 5 VHSL program.

Building Reserve Minutes

The first step was a game against Denbigh Baptist at home. The Denbigh Minutemen are in a rebuilding mode and have been winless thus far this season. Although some teams may use the opportunity to build stats on key players, Coach Kenya Williams took the opportunity to rest the legs of his key starters. The Eagles lone regular starter in this game was center Jahvon Noray, while the rest of the starting five was rounded out with Juniors Kivinie Johnson and Malachi Banks, and Chinese International Program students Jay Lu and Steve Wang. Despite working the bench so hard, the Eagles still came away with a substantial victory, 82-24. Sophomore Jalen Wright led all scorers with 18 points and 15 rebounds, while Malachi Banks had 16 points, 11 rebounds, and 6 assists. And our International Program students? Jay tallied 4 points and 5 rebounds, and Steve Wang had 5 points, with one long-range three-point shot that whipped the crowd into a frenzy.

First Test

WCA got it’s first true test of the season the following Saturday, as they faced a Class 5 opponent with a high school enrollment of over 1,800 students. The strategy of resting legs paid off, as WCA was able to use their speed to score 80 points in a thrilling overtime finish.  In both the final seconds of regulation and overtime, the Eagles found themselves down. Cle’von Greene streaked the floor and made the tying bucket to tie the game at 70 with 5 seconds left to send it to overtime. Dexter Radcliffe followed that up with a rebound and layup with three seconds left to win the game, after Ra’Shawn Cook missed the second of two free throw shots to tie the game at 78. Greene would finish with a season-high 39 points on 17 of 29 shooting to with 20 rebounds. Da’Shawn Cook finished with 11 and junior Malachi Banks added 10 points and 6 rebounds. The game was a solid basketball win, but the Eagles will definitely have to improve on 35% free throw shooting as the season progresses.

Defensive Battle

The Eagles returned to action this past Tuesday night against Metro foe Hampton Christian.  Led by Head Coach Tony Rutland, a former Bethel High grad who went on to play college ball with Tim Duncan at Wake Forest and make the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight in 1996, the Warriors had all the trademarks of a well-coached basketball team. The Warriors held the Eagles to a season-low 10 points in the first quarter. The Eagles turned on a defense of their own, however, and limited HCA to just 2 points in the entire second quarter. The Eagles were forced to fight for every basket, but eventually pulled away, winning 56-36, with scoring a team effort.

Next Up

The Eagles moved on to face the Carmel School, who at the time was 3-1 with their only loss coming against Division 1 Collegiate School by ten. A fellow Division 3 program, the Wildcats and Eagles traded baskets in a relatively high scoring first half, with the Wildcats leading at the break by two, 38-36. But the Eagles turned on the defense in the second half, allowing Carmel just 21 points the rest of the way, and came away with yet another win, 72-58. Senior Da’Shawn Cook led all scorers with 23 points, 5 rebounds, 5 Assists, and 5 Steals. Cle’von Greene had 21 points accompanying 16 rebounds, 6 Assists, and 3 steals. Ra’Shawn Cook chipped in 13points and 4 assists. The team as a whole shot an astounding 47% from beyond the three-point arc.

Back to Metro

The Eagles traveled for their second away Metro game in Portsmouth as they put on an offensive clinic, scoring 110 points while nearly doubling up the Patriots, 110-57. Cle’von Greene led 5 players in double figures with 29 points and another impressive rebounding night with 13 boards. Da’Shawn Cook (23pts/5 steals), Dexter Radcliffe (20pts/6 reb), Malachi Banks (12 Pts/4 steals), and Kivinie Johnson (10pts/3 assists), rounded up the players in double figures. The blowout was aided by a mind-blowing 82% field goal percentage, almost unheard of in high school basketball.

The team gets a well-earned break as their next game isn’t until this coming Friday at 7PM at home versus Stonebridge.