The march to a repeat metro basketball championship, as well as another state championship, gathered steam as WCA won two more Metro games in the past ten days, with victories over Isle of Wight at Homecoming, and Hampton Christian Academy, Metro’s 2nd place team to WCA this season.

Homecoming Win

With weather playing havoc with the schedule since the return break (the team was forced to reschedule basketball games against Cape Henry Collegiate, Broadwater, and Bishop Sullivan), the team had plenty of rest heading into its homecoming matchup early. A Divison 2 team, Isle of Wight, is part of the Metro and had a .500 record in the Mero heading into the contest. They also have the #3 scorer in the Metro, sophomore Grant Worthy. Worthy was still able to score his points, tallying 23 against the stiff Eagles defense, but that was not enough, as WCA had the game won by the end of the third, with a final score of 78-54. Senior captain Cle’von Greene led all scorers with 20 in a well-spread scoring effort.  Homecoming King Da’Shawn Cook and Kivinie Johnson contributed 12 a piece.

Tired Legs?

Fresh off their homecoming win, the team traveled the next day to Hampton Christian Academy for a showcase game against Hargrave Military Academy, currently ranked #4 in VISAA’s Division 2. Perhaps the best game in terms of excitement so far this season, the lead changed hands multiple times throughout the basketball game and ended in an 80-80 tie. The Eagles were unable to manage the game intensity level on back to back game nights in the extra session, and the Tigers outscored WCA 13-7 to seal the overtime win. Ra’Shawn Cook had a breakout game, scoring 32 points, while Greene had 23 points to go with seven rebounds and four steals.

Season Sweep

The Eagles returned to Hampton Christian Academy last Friday for the second meeting between the teams this season. In the home matchup, WCA defeated HCA 56-36 in a low scoring defensive struggle. This game had more offensive punch, but the result was similar, with the Eagles winning 73-61. With the Warriors ranked 6th in Division 3 right now, this is a matchup we may yet see again in both the Metro Tournament and the State Championship tournament. Ra’Shawn Cook continued his strong play with 18 points on 57% shooting, with eight rebounds, while junior Dexter Radcliffe matched that 18 with ten rebounds.

Offensive Explosion

On a night led into by a raucous crowd coming off a final seconds win by the JV team versus Portsmouth Christian, the varsity contest versus PCS featured an early offensive explosion. With scouts from colleges in the crowd to watch Da’Shawn Cook, the team oriented its attack to highlight Da’Shawn. Da’Sahwan would score 26 points in the first half, and finished with 41.

Flurry of Upcoming Games

The Eagles now enter a period of games which will test their basketball conditioning and mental stamina. The Eagles combat  Life Christian Academy for a rematch of an earlier game won by WCA handily at home on Thursday, and have Denbigh Baptist on Friday. They will then play a tournament game versus Westridge Academy of North Carolina on Saturday, before traveling Monday to Cape Henry Collegiate and Stonebridge School on Tuesday.