|
|
|
Two longtime friendly foes met on the hardwood in Varden Monday and staged an entertaining show for local fans.
Canaan Christian Academy's boys basketball team put out the welcome mat for Damascus Christian, but proved to be less-than-gracious hosts.
Canaan sprinted out to a quick lead in this one, thanks in large part to a big night from Joe Chupick.
The high-flying junior center hauled down an offensive rebound on his team's first possession, then powered it back up for two...giving CCA a lead it would never relinquish.
The Eagles outscored the Defenders in every quarter en route to a 59-46.
"Overall, I'm very happy with the effort," Coach John Ashley told TWI Sports. "I think we played hard all game long. We played good, solid defense...we made our foul shots for the most part...and we rebounded the ball really well."
DCA's coach Lane Jones was quick to agree with his colleague's assessment.
"We had our chances, but we just didn't take advantage of them," he said. "It seemed like they always had one or two guys back on defense, so we couldn't really run the way we wanted to. They definitely hurt us on on the boards and our free throw shooting was terrible."
With the win, Canaan crested the .500 mark for the first time this season. The Eagles are 4-4 overall heading into the annual invitational tournament at Central.
Damascus is now 5-4 and also headed to this weekend's tourney. The Defenders are seeded #3 and could conceivably meet Canaan in the title tilt.
Coach Jones' lads play Freedom Village in the first round, then must get by the top seed and defending champ, Parsippany.
Early & Often
Chupick has been Canaan's leading scorer all season, averaging 12 points per game.
Joe dominated the glass at both ends of the floor on this particular night, but he also stepped out and drilled a pair of deep treys. Chupick rattled the rims for 12 points in the first half on his way to team-best 22.
"Chupick is going to have to carry us on offense at times ...just like he did tonight," said Coach Ashley. "Joe was very smart in picking his spots when to attack the rim. I like that he knew when to pull up and shoot the short and middle range jumper, too."
Two longtime friendly foes met on the hardwood in Varden Monday and staged an entertaining show for local fans.
Canaan Christian Academy's boys basketball team put out the welcome mat for Damascus Christian, but proved to be less-than-gracious hosts.
Canaan sprinted out to a quick lead in this one, thanks in large part to a big night from Joe Chupick.
The high-flying junior center hauled down an offensive rebound on his team's first possession, then powered it back up for two...giving CCA a lead it would never relinquish.
The Eagles outscored the Defenders in every quarter en route to a 59-46.
"Overall, I'm very happy with the effort," Coach John Ashley told TWI Sports. "I think we played hard all game long. We played good, solid defense...we made our foul shots for the most part...and we rebounded the ball really well."
DCA's coach Lane Jones was quick to agree with his colleague's assessment.
"We had our chances, but we just didn't take advantage of them," he said. "It seemed like they always had one or two guys back on defense, so we couldn't really run the way we wanted to. They definitely hurt us on on the boards and our free throw shooting was terrible."
With the win, Canaan crested the .500 mark for the first time this season. The Eagles are 4-4 overall heading into the annual invitational tournament at Central.
Damascus is now 5-4 and also headed to this weekend's tourney. The Defenders are seeded #3 and could conceivably meet Canaan in the title tilt.
Coach Jones' lads play Freedom Village in the first round, then must get by the top seed and defending champ, Parsippany.
Early & Often
Chupick has been Canaan's leading scorer all season, averaging 12 points per game.
Joe dominated the glass at both ends of the floor on this particular night, but he also stepped out and drilled a pair of deep treys. Chupick rattled the rims for 12 points in the first half on his way to team-best 22.
"Chupick is going to have to carry us on offense at times ...just like he did tonight," said Coach Ashley. "Joe was very smart in picking his spots when to attack the rim. I like that he knew when to pull up and shoot the short and middle range jumper, too."
While Chupick paced the Eagles, Caleb Jones and Cole Fredo provided DCA with a potent 1-2 punch.
Jones, who missed the early part of this season with an injury, appeared to be back at full strength Monday in Varden. Caleb hammered home a pair of early treys and finished up the first half with 10 points.
By the time the final buzzer sounded, Jones had piled up a game-high 24.
"He's a heck of a basketball player," said Coach Ashley. "We knew we'd have our hands full with Caleb and Cole and that was definitely the case."
Fredo, a battle-tested power forward, made his presence felt in the post. Cole muscled his way to 10 points and 11 rebounds.
Canaan held Jones & Fredo in check through the opening stanza, surging to a 13-7 lead. The Eagles extended that advantage to 31-24 at intermission and then sealed the deal on a double digit decision by outscoring the Defenders 10-6 in the third quarter.
Joe Schweinsburg contributed 12 points to CCA’s cause. Spencer Beals chip-ped in with six, as did Daryl Draidfort, Tim Krug and Travis Hoffman. Brogan Scotch rounded out the Eagles’ scoring with a late bucket.
In addition to Jones and Fredo, DCA’s Andrew Sheard added four points and Josiah Jones hit for five.
Score by Quarters...
CCA (4-4) 13 18 10 18 - 59
DCA (5-4) 7 17 6 16 - 46
