The Grace Christian basketball teams spent some time on the road this last week with two away games. They first took a trip across the county where both teams were beaten by Nanih Waiya, on Thursday. However both teams were able to redeem themselves on Friday, when they bounced back to beat Calhoun Academy. Grace looks to continue the successful season as they host conference rival, Eagle Homeschool on Thursday, before traveling to Starkville Academy on Friday. GCS took on Meridian Homeschool on Monday, however, results did not meet press deadlines.
Lady Eagles:
Time away from the court during a break is always hard for a team. The time away may have been what caused an offensive struggle for Grace Christian on Thursday. The Lady Eagles suffered a 39-25 loss to the cross-county Lady Warriors. Carolyn Hogue was the Lady Eagles leading scorer as she was able to piece together nine. “We struggled offensively,” Lady Eagles Head Coach Talor Troyer said, “We struggled to get on the board.” Troyer said she did not think the defense was bad and that her team handled the press really well. The next day, the Lady Eagles were able to escape a close one. They beat Calhoun 33-31, in a game where Troyer said turnover almost cost the Lady Eagles the game. The Lady Eagles led the whole game, and were even leading by 10 at one point late. “We pulled this one out,” Troyer said, “Learning to play with a lead is important, and we are working on that.” Troyer believes a win is a win, even though she believes her team could have done much better. Mia Brownlee led the team in scoring with 11 points.
Eagles:
The Eagles had a similar week to the Lady Eagles, starting out with a 53-41 loss at Nanih Waiya. Grayson Skelton led the scoring for GCS, with 27. “I was proud of how we played,” Head Coach Bryan Nixon said as he praised the Nanih Waiya team. The Eagles only trailed by four at halftime but just were not able to pull out the win. Nixon said that he did not think his team played badly, however, Nanih Waiya just outplayed them. The Eagles were able to bounce back big on Friday, as they earned a huge 62-37 win over Calhoun. Skelton scored 22, while Miles Brownlee scored 16. Nixon said he is starting to see a lot of guys step up and add scoring. Nixon said that Calhoun was attempting to jump Skelton, which opened up the door for Brownlee to score. Nixon looks to have the Eagles prepared for more jump defenses, as he expects to see more throughout the season. Nixon is also looking to have the Eagles mentally prepared as they have a tiring road ahead, with seven games over the next two weeks. Nixon looks to be improved on all aspects of the game going into this week.
