Pouring it on at CCS vs. a rival
A lot of things began to click for Concord Christian School boys basketball in the second quarter, which became sheer dominance in the second half, against district rival Christian Academy of Knoxville Monday night.
Leading by only a point, 13-12, after one frame, the Lions used hot perimeter shooting, crisp passing on fast breaks and half-court sets for easy shots, rebounding and sticky defense to earn a 77-50 home victory Dec. 21.
“We started off kind of sluggish with our offensive sets,” said CCS head coach Michael Wilkins, whose team improved to 7-4 overall, 3-1 in district. “Once we were able to get into our offensive sets and get the right line-up out there, we were able to get some buckets through our offense ... and get points in the paint.
“We played a fast-paced game, a lot of up-and-down,” he added. “We were able to tighten up some things defensively. We rebounded the ball well, got good put-backs.”
As for earning open shots under the basket, “Our guards did a really good job of moving the basketball, rotating the ball and finding the low post (player),” Wilkins said.
“We also shot the ball well from outside.”
However, “The biggest thing tonight was our free throws — we shot a high free-throw percentage,” the CCS coach said.
Individually, “Jose Rodriguez played an awesome game,” Wilkins said about his junior point guard, who scored 12. “He handled the ball, distributed the ball and rebounded well.”
Juan Rodriguez, junior forward, led all scorers with 21 points. “Juan’s kind of our guy that gets it all done,” Wilkins said. “He did it tonight on defense and offense.
“Chase Morgan (junior post, 6 points), Will Morris (junior wing, 14 points), Noah Gilder (sophomore wing, 13 points) — pretty much everybody stepped up and did something good tonight,” he added.
Other CCS scorers were junior Harry Pennoyer with seven, junior C.J. Newton adding three and sophomore Jeremiah Fletcher with a free throw.
The Warriors, meanwhile, fell to 3-4 overall, 0-1 in district.
“They are a very strong, physical, athletic team,” CAK head coach --- Johnson said about the Lions. “I thought they did a great job of running their offense.”
