Varsity Men Cruise by Fayetteville Christian, Varsity Women Come Up Short in Closing Seconds

Junior center, Quate Mckinzie rises above
the rim for a slam

The Harrells Christian Academy Varsity men's basketball team traveled to Fayetteville on Friday, January 16 to take on Fayetteville Christian School. The Crusaders did not disappoint against arguably, the best competition in their conference. HCA jumped out to an early 18-12 lead at the end of the first quarter. Star center Quate Mckinzie, who averages 17 points per game for the
Crusaders, found himself in early foul trouble forcing the Crusaders to look for other scoring options. Junior forward, CJ Kirchoff stepped up in the midst of the second quarter and drained multiple three pointers and headed into the half with 15 points in contribution to a 43-31 Crusader lead.

The Warriors could not halt a scoring run by the Crusaders with allowed the Crusaders to extend their lead to 20 points. Quate Mckinzie made his presence felt in the second half and finished with 15 points in route to a 72-52 victory over Fayetteville Christian. CJ Kirchoff led the Crusaders in scoring with 21 points. Marcus Scarborough quickly followed with 17 points. Scarborough made all 10 of his free throws throughout the course of the game. Sophomore Tyshii Scarborough dished out 10 assists to go along with scoring 8 points. HCA was active on the defensive end forcing 27 turnovers and 18 steals. The Crusaders improve to 10-3 (4-0) on the season with their statement 20 point victory over the Warriors. The Varsity Men will be back in action on Wednesday, January 21 at home against Coastal Christian High School and on Friday, January 23 at Cape Fear Academy.

The Varsity Women battled back and fourth the entire game with the Lady Warriors. Fayetteville Christian jumped out to an early start against the Lady Crusaders and edged a 13-6 lead at the end of the first quarter. The Crusaders battled back in the second quarter led by a balance scoring attack and headed into half trailing by only 3 points, 23-20.

The Crusaders continued to fight and gained their first lead of the game, 33-32, with 2:17 left to play in the third quarter. The Lady Crusaders were not able to keep their lead for long as the Warriors answered right back and headed into the fourth quarter with a 35-33 lead. The Warriors maintained their lead for a majority of the fourth quarter. HCA guard, Margaret Clark, drained a three pointer with 12 seconds left to play to cut the Warrior lead to 45-42 however, the Crusaders could not execute in the closing seconds of the fourth quarter. The Crusaders found themselves in foul trouble the entire game. Fayetteville Christian shot 43 free throws compared to only 10 attempts by the Crusaders. The lack of attempts at the free throw line will often lead to a loss, as illustrated in the Lady Crusaders' second loss of the season against the Warriors. HCA falls to 10-2 (3-1) on the season with their narrow loss against Fayetteville Christian. The Lady Crusaders will be back in action on Wednesday, January 21 at home against Coastal Christian and on Friday, January January 23 at Cape Fear Academy.