Williamsburg Christian Academy will kick off its 2017-2018 basketball season on Thursday, November 16th at home with a full slate of boys games, starting at 4PM with our JJV team, continuing with JV at 5:30PM and finally the much-awaited varsity season opener at 7PM.

For those of you just tuning in, WCA’s varsity basketball team notched its second VISAA State Championship in program history last season with a dominating pair of wins in the Final Four Tourney at Virginia State University. The team returns a stunning 4 players from that championship squad, including consensus VISAA D3 player of the year Cle’von Greene, who has already pocketed a scholarship commitment from Radford University. Flanking him will be the lightning fast guard combo of twins RaShawn and DaShawn Cook, the ‘slasher’ and the ‘splasher’, and rounding out the returning starters is junior Dexter Radcliffe, an excellent post player who was the surprise high scorer in last year’s championship game. Joining the full-time Varsity squad will be deft ball handler Kivinie Johnson, who will be called on early to spell both the Cook brothers as well as Greene, and the addition of junior Malachi Banks, who transferred to WCA after a very successful season at Summit Christian Academy. Another key contributor for Coach Williams will likely be space-eater and physical sophomore Jalen Vaughan.

Question marks still surround the team, however, as the departure of last year’s 6’9″ sophomore Chester Makoi leaves a big (or rather tall) void in the center of the floor. 6’5″ Senior Jahvon Noray will attempt to step up and become WCA’s internal presence. The other question mark is new coach Kenya Williams, who takes over for VISAA D3 Coach of the Year Chris Brown, and how he will adjust for the loss of Makoi with a very guard rich team. Coach Williams’ stated goal this year is simple: Take the season a game at a time, with the intention of winning the state championship. Asked about this year’s squad heading into the season, Coach Williams pointed to the fact that despite being state champions, the team is not resting on their laurels. “I feel this year’s squad has a lot to prove. They are coming off a state championship season and they have a chip on their shoulder because all they’ve heard during the offseason is that they haven’t played anyone that’s on their level. So they are hungry and excited to play anyone they face.”

Life Christian will be a superb test for the team, as LCA came within a bucket of defeating WCA on our home court in last season’s opener. As of the print date of this article, no roster information was available from Life Christian to review their team.

If you are new to WCA, or have not yet made it to a game, WCA basketball games are a spectacle to behold, and may be the most energetic and exciting events on campus. We encourage parents and students of all ages to attend Thursday’s game as we embark upon another state title quest in this challenging season opener! Admission to the game is $5 for adults and $3 for non-WCA students. Admission for WCA students and staff is free.