NCA Classic – First Day Recap

Ron Bailey, Publisher

February 17, 2004 - The first day of 4th Annual NCA Classic action brought talented players and impressive performances to National Christian Academy’s gymnasium. Resultantly, coaches from the following colleges and universities were on tap Friday night, scouting players: Georgetown, Charlotte, Maryland, Cincinnati, George Washington, Marshall, UConn, and Tennessee.

Following is an overview of the games.

Mt Zion Academy 47 Patterson School 43

Mt. Zion (13-9) maintained around a five point lead into the fourth quarter, in large part due to junior center Terrance Jennings’(21 points), along with senior swing man Tracey Smith (8 points). The duo seemed to take turns punishing the rim, with Jennings standing out in that department.

The school’s coach, Antonio Fozard, felt his team’s at the rim shots were keyed by “penetrating”. He also felt “Our team played strong for the most part”, which was central to the victory.

North Carolina State bound swingman, Tracey Smith

With the score standing 31-25 going into the fourth quarter, junior Patterson (5-6) swingman Jamar Samuels (20 points) – himself a rim attacker all game long – slammed back to back, the first off a fast break and the other in a half court situation.

Jennings and Smith soon answered with dunks of their own, conspiring with Patterson’s turnovers to put the game out of reach. Patterson’s coach Terry Truax, lamented the latter. “Those turnovers were unfortunate” he said, latter adding “In the second half, Mt. Zion’s players made every effort play...We have to figure out how to get these kids to play with effort (consistently).

National Christian 68 Our Savior New American School 48

This game figured to be a clash of the titans, as National Christian (16-3) boasts a frontline standing 7’0”, 6’8”, and 6’5”, while Our Savior (12-3) has at least five players standing at least 6’11”.

The big guys didn’t disappoint, as National forwards Wilbur O’Neal (11 points) and Justin Thomas (11 points) – a junior and sophomore respectively – and senior center Anthony McClain (9 points) all played above the rim, not only dunking, but blocking shots and cleaning the glass.

Anthony McClain (left) and John Reik, two talented seven footers.

Our Savior’s sophomore center, John Reik (13 points) and junior forward Teeng Akol (12 points) paced their team, while junior guard Gerardo Suera (12 points) was at times a factor.

What led National to its 33-22 halftime lead and subsequent 20 point final advantage was guard play, or lack thereof. Suera played well in spots, but Our Savior’s backcourt did not handle National’s early press well, nor did they effectively utilize their big men.

“This is the third time we’ve played them” said National’s coach, Trevor Brown. “We wanted to get up and down the court” he continued, thereby putting pressure on his opponent’s backcourt.

Our Savior’s coach, Rev. Ron Stelzer, acknowledged his backcourt’s deficiencies, and in part attributed it to fatigue. “We were tired, and just ran out of gas” he said. That lack of vigor was also responsible, according to him, for the team’s “foul shots being short”, said Stelzer.

Check out i95Ballerz.com for an update of today’s championship round, the All-Classic team, complete with brief player evaluations.