The defending Metro Atlantic Conference regular season and tournament champions did not miss a beat against Atlantic Shores Christian School on Tuesday night.
Junior Imani Bryant led Williamsburg Christian Academy with a game-high 21 points as the Eagles downed the visiting Seahawks 47-25.
Atlantic Shores and WCA (4-0) each traded 6-0 runs to open the game before a decisive 8-0 run to start the second quarter granted WCA a lead they did not relinquish. Despite a determined Atlantic Shores press, the Eagles managed double digits in each of the last three quarters.
“The difference was that the girls didn’t play as sloppy as Atlantic Shores wanted to get us to play. They had a great press, so they wanted to speed us up,” WCA Coach Donovan Bridgeforth said. “The girls did a great job of just remaining poised. They showed a lot of composure, and we’re going to need that heading into the Boo Williams Holiday Tournament.”
After trailing in the first quarter, WCA stiffened defensively. WCA held Atlantic Shores to 11 second-half points, while limiting the Seahawks to less than 10 points in the second (4), third (7) and fourth (4) quarters. The Eagles outscored the Seahawks by 17 through the third and fourth quarters.
“Second half, the girls played a lot better on defense,” Bridgeforth said. “They still need to continue to play a lot better, so we’ll be up at six in the morning in the gym working on that.”
Bryant dominated the glass en route to her game-high 21 points. Offensively, all but one WCA player scored. Junior Aquazia Jones scored 15, while senior Emily Duncan added four. Eighth-grader Te’Daizuah Jones tallied three points, and juniors Kaylee Boger and Nissa Chillers each contributed two points.
The Eagles return to action Thursday to host Nansemond Suffolk at 5:30 p.m.
WCA 47 ATLANTIC SHORES 25
WCA- 8 11 17 11 – 47
A. Shores- 10 4 7 4 – 25
WCA (4-0): Bryant (21), A. Jones (15), Duncan (4), T. Jones (3), Boger (2), Chillers (2)
WCA Boys Hold Off Seahawks to Win 60-51
With a seven-point lead in hand at the break, Williamsburg Christian Academy figured to face more pressure in the second half.
Visiting Atlantic Shores obliged, implementing a relentless press throughout the third and fourth quarters. Still, the defending Metro Atlantic Region regular season and tournament champions prevailed, as the Eagles topped the Seahawks 60-51 on Tuesday night.
Junior Andre Brown led the Eagles (4-1) with 18 points, 14 of which came in the decisive second half. Brown converted on a number of free-throws late, turning in two traditional three-point plays for good measure.
WCA Coach Chris Gann applauded the Eagles’ response to the press.
“We still wanted to stay aggressive against their trap. We felt like even if we had a few turnovers, we would still get some opportunities against them,” Gann said. “We didn’t want to be passive, we wanted to attack. I though [Xavier Green] and Mike [Duncan] did a good job of passing it ahead instead of trying to make everything happen.”
Junior Xavier Green opened with a nine-point first half, and was a force defensively, too, with a handful of blocks. Green would finish the night with 13 points, cooling off in the second half in large part because of Atlantic Shores’ pressure.
Despite trouble at the the free-throw line, junior Mike Duncan added 15 points while running WCA’s offense for much of the night. Junior Ryan Flanagan hit three 3-pointers en route to 12 points, rounding out the Eagles double-digit scorers.
Christian Kimrough led Atlantic Shores with 20 points, making a living off second-shot opportunities. Gann noted defensive rebounding as an area of focus.
“The biggest thing we take away is that we want to get better the next day. We feel like what we have to do is rebound better,” Gann said. “We gave up too many second shots, so our focus going into practice tomorrow will be to shore that up and really working on the tough plays — loose balls and rebounding.”
WCA hosts Nansemond Suffolk on Thursday as part of a double-header with the girls team.
WCA 60 ATLANTIC SHORES 51
WCA- 13 14 14 19 – 60
A. Shores- 8 12 17 14 – 51
WCA (5-1): Brown (18), Duncan (15), Green (13), Flanagan (12), Bunn (2)
A. Shores: Kimbrough (20), Cannady (11), Bartaskas (9), Cotten (6), Phillyis (3), Coleman (2)
