Grace rolls past WCS
By Andrew Stevens
Published in Sports on January 19, 2011 1:46 PM
Wayne Christian tried to match Grace Christian's tempo and outside shooting.
The result was plenty of transition opportunities and open shots for Grace and an 80-40 blowout loss for Wayne Christian in Carolina Christian 1-A Conference play Tuesday evening.
Grace knocked down 11 3-pointers and dominated Wayne Christian in the paint. Grace jumped out to an 8-0 lead in less than 90 seconds. Wayne Christian trailed 24-14 at the end of the first quarter and the deficit swelled to 39-20 at the half.
Six different Grace players drained 3-pointers and the Eagles struggled to find an answer for Grace's Keerthi Boru on the interior. Boru controlled the boards, frequently turned offensive rebounds into points and finished with a game-high 23 points.
Michael Taylor added 16 points and Vinnie Pittman had 11.
Wayne Christian couldn't find its shooting touch from the outside and committed costly turnovers in transition.
"It was a tough shooting night," said Eagles' head coach Franklin Brathwaite. "We had some good looks. We had some turnovers early. They hit shots and we didn't. The problem was we tried to match them in their speed up and down the court, and that's where we got in trouble."
Both coaches substituted frequently throughout the fourth quarter as the margin exceeded the 40-point mark.
Chase King led the Eagles with 14 points.
Brathwaite didn't see much to learn from a 40-point loss, instead choosing to move past it and focus on Wayne Christian's next opponent. The Eagles (4-10 overall) visit Crossroads Christian on Friday.
"There's not a lot you can learn from this one," said Brathwaite. "The score was tough enough as it is. I can't pound on my guys too much tonight."