Both Varsity Teams Continue to Dominate in Conference Play with Win Over Coastal Christian

Varsity Men

The Varsity Men traveled to Wilmington on Tuesday, February 3 to take on Coastal Christian for the Centurion's final home game and senior night. The Centurions took advantage of a livid, excited crowd and jumped out to an early 15-9 lead heading into the second quarter. Coastal continued to roll in the early stages of the second quarter and extended their lead to 21-14 before a timeout with 5:47 left in the half. The Crusaders began to apply full court pressure out of the timeout which forced another Centurion timeout after the Crusaders cut the lead to 21-18 with 4:59 left to play in the half. The two teams continued to tug of war back and forth throughout the remainder of first half. The Crusaders headed into halftime with a slight 32-30 lead under the leadership of Marcus Scarborough with 9 points.

The Crusader exploded in the third quarter and deflated any hope of a Centurion victory. HCA outscored Coastal 25-5 in the third quarter and extended their lead to 57-35. The Crusaders did not let off the throttle in the fourth quarter which eventually propelled them to a 70-43 victory over the Centurions. HCA created a balanced scoring attack that featured 4 players in double figures. Senior, Spencer Cooke recorded a double double with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Quate Mckinzie also recorded a double double for the Crusaders with 14 points and 12 rebounds. CJ Kirchoff totaled 14 points and was quickly followed by Marcus Scarborough who registered 12 points for the Crusaders. With the Crusaders 27 point victory over Coastal they extended their current win streak to 10 games and improve to 15-3 (9-0) on the season. The Varsity Men will be back in action in their final regular season game of the season on Thursday, February 5 as they take on Fayetteville Academy for senior night. The Crusaders defeated Fayetteville Academy 66-43 in their last meeting.

Varsity Women

The Lady Crusaders rolled past the Centurions on their senior night. HCA exploded out to and early 12-6 lead with 3:16 left to play in the first quarter. Coastal fought back and cut the HCA lead to 12-11 at the end of the first quarter. Early in the second quarter Coastal tied the game at 12 before Emily Benton scored 6 straight points for the Crusaders to extend their lead to 18-12. Once again the Centurions battled back and cut the lead to 22-18 heading into the half. 

The Lady Crusaders began to pull away in the third quarter and rolled into the fourth quarter with a 36-22 lead. HCA did not slow down in the fourth quarter and eventually clinched a 51-36 victory over Coastal Christian. The Lady Crusaders dominated in the paint where they were led by Emily Benton who totaled 18 points and Mikaela Stroud who registered 16 points. With the Crusaders victory over Coastal they improved to 15-2 (8-1) on the season. The Lady Crusaders will be back in action for senior night as they take on Fayetteville Academy in their final regular season game of the season. HCA defeated the Lady Eagles 41-37 in triple overtime in the two teams previous meeting.