Wesleyan vs High Point Christian Varsity Boys


High Point Christian – 39
Wesleyan Christian – 45

                           1st  2nd  3rd  4th  Final
   High Point Christian    11    7   15    6    39
   Wesleyan Christian      17   12    6   10    45

High Point Christian (14-3)
Joey McLean 1
Alvah Phillip 1
Diante Baldwin 17
Jackson Kent 4
Mike Kobani 16

Wesleyan Christian
Harry Giles 19
Jaquel Richmond 4
Michael Buckland 4
Theo Pinson 6
DeShaunte Carelock 6
Trey Chapman 6

High Point Christian’s next game is at home Friday against Forsyth Country Day.

Submitted by Carson Cashwell

39 thoughts on “Wesleyan vs High Point Christian Varsity Boys

  1. The Wesleyan posters were right – for the most part. Too much Harry Giles down low. First time I’ve seen him play and he was VERY impressive.

    Actually thought Coach Gatlin’s use of the zone defense confused HPCA mid-way thru the 3rd quarter, even though that was when they closed the gap. I think it was 37 all early in the 4th and HPCA just couldn’t quite get it done. Kudos to Weslyan; very good team, though not by the 20 point margin some were predicting.

  2. The only reason it was not a double digit win was a lot of questionable calls in the third quarter when HPCA cut the lead.

  3. Thanks for clearing that up. There for a minute, I almost thought HPCA was a decent team.

  4. The more talented a team is, typically, the better defensively they are. These are two very talented teams, on offense, but especially on defense. Not to mention both teams played a fair amount of zone making good shots take longer to find.

  5. Asides from Syracuse, I wouldn’t say that really good defensive teams play zone. Most teams that play zone do it because they can’t guard or won’t guard anyone. Given the # of college bound players tonight I would have thought the score would be in the 50s or 60s even if really good D was played. It seems more like an offensive struggle between two very talented teams.

  6. The game was low scoring because you have 7 6″5 or taller players on a high school court. So it’s crowded with bad spacing. Three 6″8 or taller guys in the lane makes for no layups on a small court. I saw a bunch of contested shots out there

  7. To Eagle Dad-
    HPCA is a decent team. Probably the second best private school in the state. That being said they can’t match the speed and length of WCA. They just don’t have as much overall talent. It was fairly obvious from the game tonight.

  8. HPCA has a good team and has played a few good teams to help get ready for conference play but GDS has not played anyone good. They played a weak Davidson Day team that is just ok and won by one. Freddy Johnson is so concerned about getting his 25 wins a year that he does not help his players get ready for the college level competition. WCA has already played Hunington Prep, Christ the King, St Joe Bosco out of Cali who is 15th ranked in country and they played all those games tight and lost in final minutes. They have beaten Christ School twice by 15-20, QEA, Floya McDonald, New Hope Christian Academy which would have beat GDS by 20. WCA has been invited to the Under Armor Brandon Jennings Invitational in Milwaukee this weekend to take on the 3 ranked high school in the nation Lone Peak,UT. Coach Gatlin was not afraid to play this schedule because he was concerned about he will not look like a good coach but he wanted his players to play the best because this is the type of competition they will play in college. Go to GDS.com and see the schedule GDS is playing and tell me who do you think the number one team in the triad. Even the players at GDS is complaining about the level of competition they are playing and they want to be challenged and just not try to look good. Coach Freddy Johnson is avoiding competition just to get wins and not to help develop his players. Selfish, Selfish, Selfish…smh at you Coach Freddy. Any talented kid playing basketball who is living in the triad should be calling WCA to see if they can get a try out. WCA future is bright!!!!!

  9. Next Friday night at Greensboro Day we will know and I know the GDS players can’t wait for that game, but they will have to, still a week and a-half away, but that will be one of the biggest games in the state on that night….

    GDS will be ready and I’m sure WES will be too…

    Both outstanding teams, GDS and WES…

  10. Wesleyan should not lose a game all year with all the talent that they have. I can’t believe they about lost to HP Christian.

    Why is Wesleyan not scoring?
    They have had mutliple games in the 40s. Let the kids get out and run with all those future pros.

  11. The experience WCA had last year has really taught all a good lesson. They had talent but everyone was selfish and wanted to score 20 points a game and GDS beat them good. This year the kids just want to win. They have 7 D-1 kids on their roster who can average 20 points a game on any other team on any night but they have sacrifice their rankings, ESPN highlights, news and record stories just to win. I am so proud of Theo and Jaquel because they have placed their team ahead of their rankings. Theo scored 6 and Jaquel had 4 but they recognized the mix-match in the post . Don’t get it twisted because Theo Pinson can dominate a game as well as Jaquel Richmond but they place team ahead of self and hopefully it will pay off in February. They are already set with their recruiting and offers, they just want to win. More high schools players should have this mentality but I do understand scholarships are so competitive.

  12. Maybe last night’s game was a low-scoring game due to the veteran players getting tight for BIG games like this one….

    Sometimes as the playes get older they put more pressure on themselves to score….

    Harry Giles, a freshman, led all scorers with 19 points and maybe the young kid was playing loose, as he is new to this BIG series….

    Defense has a lot to do with it too, but I still think the older players often times start thinking it about the game too much and tighten up….

    What are your thoughts on the WES uniforms…Saw them in today’s News and Record photo section and that yellow is well, what do you say????? Time to dump the Yellow and get another color for the home wraps???

    Any thoughts?

    GOOD teams and there is still the re-match coming up at WES……

    After last night’s game how do you rank them today?

    WES
    GDS
    HPCA….

    GDS
    WES
    HPCA

    WES
    HPCA
    GDS???

  13. To me its easy.
    1.Wesleyan
    2.HPCA
    3. GDS

    Until GDS beats or even plays someone there is no way they are ahead of Wesleyan or HPCA

  14. This is bold thing to say but I am almost sure it’s factual. I believe myself to be the most well versed spectator and analyzer of HS school basketball in the entire state. I know many of you follow local basketball religiously and could compete with my knowledge of Greensboro. But my knowledge spans to all the reaches of NC, not just Greensboro.

    I happen to agree with most of what “Bruno Dad” said. GDS has talent. No one can dispute that. They have three people, at this point, lined up to play D1 college ball. And their record suggests that they are this powerhouse who is some unstoppable force on the gym floor. They have a huge margin of victory so they must be outstanding right? Anyone following state wide basketball would wholeheartedly disagree. Their schedule is mediocre at best. Their toughest competition has come against Page in a 14 point win, and Davidson Day in an 11 point win. Page, sure, as far as local public school teams are concerned, they are decent. Davidson Day though? A team with a 9-9 record with losses against Westchester, who we all know is in a lull, and barely squeaking out a win against NGFS who GDS dismantled.

    Show me a team that GDS has played that could beat Wesleyan or HPCA. You can’t. Not let me show the high level opponents WCA and HPCA have played that would beat GDS, or at least finally give them a challenge: New Hampton (NH), Miller School (VA), Oak Hill (VA), Webb (NC), Pinecrest (FL), John Bosco (CA), Christ the King (NY), Quality Education Academy (NC), Huntington Prep (WV), and Wesleyan will play Lone Peak (UT) on Saturday in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, a team ranked 3rd in the country whose only loss came at the hands of the #1 ranked team, Montverde Academy.

    So answer me this, how could GDS ever be first in 3A states? Wesleyan was 1st and moved backwards because of losses to much higher ranked teams that weren’t even from NC. How can a loss against a team not sanctioned by North Carolina hurt you in North Carolina rankings?

    Because of all this, my rankings would be:

    WCA
    GDS
    HPCA

    I think HPCA is a better, deeper, more talented team than GDS, but they were already ranked lower by the NCISAA and are coming off the loss to Wesleyan so I’ll stick them in at 3rd. I do think HPCA will hand GDS its 2nd loss of the season on January 25th, however. And yes, I meant 2nd. I can’t see GDS beating Wesleyan on January 18th. Wesleyan will do the same thing they did to HPCA, find a mismatch and exploit it. Kobani couldn’t matchup with Harry Giles’ speed, so like I predicted, a smaller, weaker guard had to defend Giles, giving him the perfect mismatch leading to his game high 19 points.

  15. Wesleyan’s 2nd team could beat any team in the area.

    They are too talented for the area. They have the best player in W-S in Harry and the best in Greensboro in Theo.

  16. NC Basketball: Good analysis but I would put HPCA above GDS. Time will tell.

    Fan: What a dumb*** thing to say. I am sure Wesleyan’s second team players are good and good kids but they couldn’t do what you say. They didn’t even see the floor last night. You are obviously on overzealous fan whose opinion should be ignored.

  17. Question:

    Did Jackson Kent guard the freshman? Why would you put a guard on Harry if Kobani would too slow? Jackson Kent is 6″7.

  18. Critic- I do agree with you that fan is being overzealous but you are no better than fan because of your last comment. I know this venue gives us the right to be anonymous but the inner you must kick in and say, “I can say it in a different way”…..So I am asking you in this public forum to apologize to fan…This will allow the inner you to have peace….Now please apologize to fan and critique his overzealous comment in a thoughtful, intelligent manner. You can do it!

  19. Jackson Kent is a good solid D-1 player but he is working on his defense and needs to move his feet quicker. Say if you put Jackson on 9th grader Harry then you leave Theo Pinson or Trey Chapman guarded by a much shorter person. They can go outside, post up or to the cup…so you are just screwed whatever you do. HPC played hard and made it a great game in a great High School environment. GDS thinks they are Wesleyan biggest rivals but it is really HPC.
    Also GDS lesser competition is not by mistake because I personally know Coach Freddy has only accepted invitations to tournaments if they can play weaker opponents. Why is GDS in the Little Four now since we know public schools in this area have lost most of the big time players? I can see them playing in that tournament 3 or 4 years ago before the best players started to migrate to private schools. I think the Little Four should only have public schools because GDS is one of the richest schools in Greensboro and they are taking money away from public schools that would receive that benefit and exposure.
    Lastly, let me be the first to call this….Coach Freddy will resign this year as basketball coach and give it to his son but stay on as Athletic Director. How do I know this because GDS has 5 fifth year seniors that will graduate and after they leave the cabinets are bare. Wesleyan only has one senior graduating this year and Harry Giles and Michael Buckland for the next 3 years. Many of Southwest and Page players are begging to go to WCA because of the national exposure in the schedule, the Under Armour gear and most do not like GDS because of the lousy schedule they play.

  20. What a lot of you are missing is Freddy Johnson is a lot like Barbra Mandrell…Mandrell was ‘Country when Country wasn’t Cool’ and Freddy was ‘Private School’ when ‘Private School’ wasn’t Cool….

    Freddy has been doing this ‘Private School’ thing since before many us or maybe you were even born….He has the titles and who among the ‘Big Three’ went the deepest in the State Tournament last year??? GDS finished 2nd in the State and WES and HPCA did not match that….

    How many State Titles does WES have and how many does HPCA have??? I would say none, but WES may have one at the smaller classification when Brad Ehrman was there coaching with Tad Conner, Robert Tucker, Dennis Hanlon and that bunch playing…

    I think I am close to money here…GDS has right at 7 State Titles and none of our other ‘Big Three’ can come close…

    The way of the net and social system of today tells us it is all about ‘what have you done for me lately and yesterday’s news does not interest many of our younger crowd of 2013, but I feel safe in saying again, Freddy Johnson was ‘Private School’ when ‘Private School’ wasn’t COOL and Freddy has never veered off of the course…

    He has been tight with Coach Mac Morris for many years and those two together must have 10-11 State Basketball Titles between them….

    You have to give it up for those two coaches(Coach Morris and Coach Johnson) and if you don’t you have missed the ‘Basketball Boat’ my brothers…..

    Freddy was there on Lawndale building his Dillard Dynasty with kids like Todd Lineberry, Alan Hughes, Kevin McCoy, Julian London, Ricky Barakat, Thomas Roberts, Andrew Dellinger, BJ Grinage, Dee Fuller and many others back in the early days and those days weren’t all that Cool…

    Freddy was ‘Private School’ when ‘Private School’ wasn’t COOL and this man made it COOL to talk about ‘Private School’ basketball…

    Can you even imagine us having a conversation like this 25-30 years ago???

    There was NO interest in ‘Private School’ basketball back then….

    GDS lit the match and created the spark and got the fire going for ‘Private School’ basketball as it stands today…

    WES has made the BIG splash, there is no doubt about that and you have to be happy for Coach Keith Gatlin, he got his start coaching over at the Greensboro Day School and I believe in the beginning Keith was coaching girls and then later on, he moved on over to the guys side and the AD at GDS hired and that would be, Freddy Johnson…..

    Freddy got the ball rolling around here and there are many die-hard basketball fans that seem to be very happy with the present ‘state’ of ‘Private School’ hoops….

    You can thank Freddy for that….

    Maybe the only mistake that Freddy made along the way was that he never asked for enough in return for his services rendered….He gave and asked for yery little in return, except maybe for the chance to write his own ticket and to leave the game on his terms….

    That he should do and if they others keep on trying and if they can find a cure for aging and take a dip on a continual basis into that proverbial ‘Fountain of Youth’, maybe one day they will catch Coach Johnson…..

    As Mr. Charlie Harville used to say back in his day and it still rings true today, Freddy Johnson is ‘The Best in Private School Basketball Today’ and for those who still give a flip about local basketball history and you believe you have to pay your dues along the way, let’s don’t forget the moral of our story and this is bigger than what Charlie was saying, Freddy Johnson was ‘Private School’, when ‘Private School’ wasn’t COOL…..

    I have said too much and for that I have no apologies, but it was my pleasure to join you gentlemen in this friendly debate and nobody is really wrong here, not even ME, but let’s not ever forget the impact Freddy Johnson had on local basketball here in our community and we, or at least I do, we thank him for that….

  21. @ Critic:

    I firmly believe that HPCA is a better team than GDS. But, when the first NCISAA rankings were released it was as follows:

    WCA
    Christ School
    GDS
    HPCA

    Since GDS hasn’t lost, I didn’t move them to 3rd because I don’t think a ranking should ever be penalized for winning. I have no doubt that HPCA has more talent than GDS and should be 2nd in the rankings. If these were my personal rankings I’d have it as:

    WCA
    HPCA
    GDS

    But in my initial analysis, I was taking the official NCISAA 3A rankings into full consideration.

    I also agree with you about what “fan” said, except I would have toned it down. The second team has some good players but no one is buying that they could beat any team in the area.

    @ Observerf

    “Bruno Dad” knows his basketball. Jackson Kent not guarding Harry Giles gave High Point Christian a disadvantage in the post. Had they moved Kent to guard Giles, Theo Pinson, or VMI signee Trey Chapman would have an advantage because of their size and quickness. Basketball, especially a Keith Gatlin ran basketball team, is all about finding a mismatch and using to your advantage.

    This was Theo Pinson’s comment in the newspaper this morning. “They had no answer for him. We have no selfish players on our team, and whoever has the mismatch, we’re going to get it to them.”

    @ Bruno Dad

    Every year, up until this year, Wesleyan has hosted a tournament call the Trojan Tip-off. It usually consisted of WCA, GDS, and then two teams, typically private schools, from around the state. Both GDS and WCA would play each of the two out of town teams on consecutive days at Wesleyan’s gym. Last year was the first year this Tip-off tournament was not held and I was told that it was because one of the teams scheduled to play was Northside Christian, last years 2A state champs coached by former Wesleyan assistant, Byron Dinkins. I was informed that the tournament didn’t happen because GDS refused to play Northside Christian, no doubt because they didn’t want to begin the season 0-1. What happened to GDS? I remember when they played a very difficult schedule. Remember the year when they hosted Word of God, who at the time was ranked 9th in the country?

  22. By the way Keith Gatlin and Brandon Clifford are excellent coaches and they do a great job and I am still happy for the day that I told Coach Clifford about that opening over at HPCA and he went out and got that job…I only regret I wasn’t able to step in and be his assistant coach, but duty calls at GreensboroSports.com and don’t forget, we have a lot of boys and girls, ‘Private’ and ‘Public’ school ball left to be played…..

    Im am OUT!(Probably should have stayed out, but like the nutt that I am, I jumped into the fire again)….OUT…..(For at least 24-48…..)

  23. @ NC Basketball….
    You have it wrong about the Wesleyan Tip Off. GDS played Christ School and Greenfield School the weekend it was usually held in the Christ School Tip Off classic.

    My rankings would be…
    Wesleyan
    HPCA
    GDS

  24. @ Andy

    I understand where you are coming from but that is the past. Private school basketball IS cool now, regardless of who made it that way. I don’t any of the facts you mentioned, however, should give him a pass for continuing to schedule weak competittion. I read on this site a lot Andy, I know you are pretty educated about local basketball. You can’t sit there and tell me that GDS has had any competition in their schedule thus far.

    People talk like he is padding his win column. Is he? Maybe, but the thing that bothers me is that he isn’t helping his players out by doing that. They won’t be “battled tested” when next friday comes and they are playing stout competition, and for the guys going on to play college, a weak high school schedule is of no use.

    I am grateful for how he has changed the culture of basketball in the triad. I don’t think anyone can say that the past 2 years has produced less exciting basketball in the triad, then in the previous 15. My argument isn’t agaisnt Freddy’s career or his legacy, it’s only for the benefit of his players.

  25. Bruno Dad,

    Page and SW players are begging to go to Wesleyan for the Under Armour gear?

    Sounds like a lot of emphasis is being put on academics.

  26. @ Trojan

    Actually, I am not wrong. When GDS went to play at the Christ School Tip-off tournament, it was after they said no to playing at Wesleyan’s tournament. Had GDS played at Wesleyan’s touney, they knew they would be 1-1 after the two games because Northside Christian is that tough. So instead they went to Christ School’s tourney. Now, if you know how 3A works, they were going to be playing at Christ School at some point in the year for the divisional game. They knew beating Greenfield wouldn’t be too tough so they were probably expecting coming out 1-1. Had they gone to Wesleyan’s tournament instead, they would have played at Christ School at a later date and based on the same outcome for the 3 games, would be 1-2. I was never wrong.

    @ Academics is the most important

    Not defending Wesleyan’s academics here, but I do know they have a good academic reputation and I hear that they have turned down a bunch of kids that wanted to play basketball there for academic reasons, I’ll leave names out because I don’t need to start a ruckus. Is it not possible to have good academics AND get nice Under Armour gear? Oak Hill is one of the best academic schools in the country and they get very nice Jordan Brand gear. Is there academics a sham as well? Like I said I’m not defending anyone in this case, I just think it’s worthwhile to paint an accurate picture.

  27. Academics… You are too smart. These kids are in public school so any move to private school is better academically. I see you are a great debater. Just here to give facts.

    Andy … You are correct that Coach Freddy started the movement first in Greensboro but this movement is not local but national. You have private Catholic schools all across the country that Freddy benefited from this idea. They have been going into the ghettos at parks in New York, Phili and bringing out the best talent and that is what Freedy is doing. He is giving kids a great education and college outlook. Greensboro Day was the first in this area and I do pay respect to him but times are changing and my friend Coach Freddy must change also. To keep his legacy going he must play tougher competition to bring in talent.

  28. To me last night was about coaching, strategies, and adjustments.

    Gaitlin’s strategy clearly was to stop the penetration of Baldwin, daring him to take the outside shot and keeping him from penetrating to get HPCA shooters open looks. He also capitalized on the mismatch against Giles, repeatedly going inside to him on a much smaller defender, which created a lead that HPCA could not overcome during the first half. HPCA made no adjustment to use their size against that attack. They have 6’10’’ Chuck Ogbodo and 6’7’’ Kent, which would have made Giles work a little harder.

    HPCA played a much slower-paced game than we are accustomed to seeing them play. Their game is built more on speed and transition. Slowing the ball down played right into Wesleyan’s hands. One would wonder why it took Clifford so long to play his 3 bigs (Ogbodo, Kobani, and Kent) and 2 guards because that’s when they made their run to tie the game.

    I hope HPCA learned in this game that they cannot go small against tall, athletic teams. Cannot wait to see the rematch and what adjustments will be made.

  29. As a GDS fan I too wish that we played a better schedule. I think it may hurt us a little the first time through. Reading these posts makes me believe that most think GDS has no chance of winning a game vs. Wesleyan or HPC. While I agree that Wesleyan has much more talent than anyone in the state, especially it’s top 6. And I also agree that HPC is very talented and may have the 2nd most talent. I cannot see how anyone can just say that GDS will be a non factor. They too create matchup problems for both Wes and HPCA. And to be honest, all three teams care more about the last week of February than they do the middly of January. I am looking forward to seeing as many of the five remaining games as I can between the three teams. Just don’t sleep on GDS. They may not win, but they will be a factor and not a team just to dismiss.

  30. One thing about the game that has been totally overlooked (except by Eagle Eye late last night), is Big Chuck did play for the first time all season. They had kept him out while confirming some eligibility issues, so I woudl expect he’ll play the remainder of the season. He looked rusty (which is expected), mishandled some passes, and didn’t score. I expect he’ll improve with more playing time.

    I think WES and HPCA are 1 & 2 in the state. GDS has clearly played a much weaker schedule, but that doesn’t take away from their talent. Do I expect them to win any of the 4 games against WES & HPCA? No. Could they? Absolutely, just as HPCA could beat WES in the re-match.

    The game was 37 all I believe with about 3 minutes left, and with WES in a zone, Clifford brought Isaiah Gill off the bench. He had 2 clear looks at 3s, but they didn’t go down. Congrats to WES on a good, hard-fought win. We could see WES-HPCA 2 more times this year, the last one being in the state finals.

  31. Kent guarded Jaquel Richmond all night. Seems he did pretty well “observer.” Big Chuck found out right before the game he could play for the first time all year. They were not going to play him 30 minutes in that situation.

  32. Poorman are you serious. If you look, Richmond scoring has been down all year and that is because he is working on being a major college point guard and not a 2 guard. Jackson Kent will tell you himself that Richmond is too fast for him. Richmond assist has almost tripled this year from last year. If you looked at any of his games he only looks to score when his team is struggling like in SC. If that is the case then your entire team stopped everyone on WES execpt Giles because the next high man had 6 points. That is not the case because WES scoring can come from anybody and that night is was Giles. So you are clueless and should be banned from talking about WES-HPC basketball. Matter of fact I hearby ban Poorman because of his poor knowledge of basketball. Hear ye…Hear ye…It is done! gavel goes down…..

  33. Wesleyan only won by six points. It looks like they needed scoring from someone other than Harry. They only scored 45 points. Is their strategy to win games by as few points as possible. Or do they only try every now and then. You should be banned. I clearly wasn’t.

Comments are closed.