Trinity Christian knocks off Gray Collegiate in Bojangles Bash
Gray Collegiate has seen plenty of top-notch competition over the years, including the start of this season when the War Eagles opened the 2017-18 slate of four games with out-of-state foes.
Maybe the one thing they haven’t seen this season is someone the caliber of Joey Baker, a Duke commit and one of the top ranked players in the 2019 Class. Baker scored 32 points and Trinity Christian hung on for a 75-68 victory over Gray Collegiate in the nightcap of Day Two of the Bojangles Bash Showcase.
“They’re really good. They’re long and athletic and do a great job of rebounding the basketball,” Gray Collegiate coach Dion Bethea said. “(Baker) made some tough shots. We guarded him well but he is really, really good.”
It was a flurry at the start of the second half that gave the Crusaders control that they would never relinquish. They scored the first nine points out of the locker room to jump to a 38-29 lead after it was tied at 29 at the half.
Baker was a big part of that. He started things with a layup, Talton Jones scored on another layup before Baker hit a long 3-pointer. Greg Gantt then capped the run with a layup.
Gray Collegiate (5-1) fought back behind the efforts of Juwan Gary, Tommy Bruner and Mike Marsh but it wasn’t enough in the end.
The War Eagles used a 14-5 spurt to tie the game at 57 with 5:07 remaining. Gary started the run with a 3-point play, Bruner scored six and Khalil Robinson added five including the three-pointer that tied it.
Au’diese Toney drove the baseline for a powerful dunk to give Trinity (5-3) the lead for good. Baker then scored 10 points over the final 3:35 to seal the win.
“We had five games before this one where we really played together,” Bethea said. “I felt in this one, it was a lot of selfish basketball down the stretch when we should have played together a whole lot more.”
Baker was pleased to come out with the win.
“We knew Gray was a talented team with Juwan, Khalil and Tommy. They have a lot of Division I talent so we knew we had to come in and play,” Baker said. “It was a good team win. My teammates got me the ball in good spots and I was able to capitalize.”
Gary finished with 21 points, eight rebounds and two steals. Bruner added 14 points and Marsh collected 12 points with Khalil Robinson chipping in with 11.
GC – Juwan Gary 21, Michael Marsh 12, Tommy Bruner 14, Khalil Robinson 11, J. Robinson 3, Rivers 4, Hough 2, Corbitt 1. TC – Joey Baker 32, Greg Gant 14, Au’diese Toney 15, Jones 8, Ginyard 4, Smith-Pagan 2.
Huntington Prep (WV) 82, Rock Creek Christian Academy (MD) 67
HP – Michael Christmas 22, Johnathan McGriff 17, Kenneth Nwuba 15, Price 8, McNeilly 8, Salzinski 5, Brakefield 4, James 3.
RC – Frank Evans 15, Jon Preston 14, Deandre Anderson 13, Jermaine Harris 12, Rose 8, Brown 3, Jones 2.
Orangeville (CAN) 66, Ridge View 64
Matthew Moncrieffe hit a layup with 10 seconds remaining to give the visitors from Canada the win.
O – Ignas Brazdeikis 37, Matthew Moncrieffe 13, Saunders 9, Jones 2, Rahtan-Mayes 2, Barthelemy 3.
RV – Walyn Napper 17, Crosby Harris-James 16, JaVon Anderson 13, Wilson 8, Jenkins 8, McKenny 2.
This story was originally published December 8, 2017 at 11:09 PM with the headline "Trinity Christian knocks off Gray Collegiate in Bojangles Bash."