Boys Basketball: New Garden Friends Gets Big Win Over New Hope Christian

The New Garden Friends Bears won two of three games this week at The USA National Prep Championships at North Myrtle Beach South Carolina.

The Bears lost on Thursday (3/7) to the National Team from Mt Zion (Durham) 56-52. Then on Friday (3/8) the Bears rallied from a nine point half time deficit to defeat Veritas (Arden, N.C.) 71-58.

Finally on Saturday (3/9) it was a rematch from the very emotional loss at New Hope Christian on Feb. 25 when the Bears led most of the way only to lose 71-63. This time it was all New Garden. The Bears jumped out to a 25-11 first quarter lead and carried that to a 51-28 half time advantage. New Hope made a run at the Bears in the third quarter, but the Bears would not wilt and regained control with a big fourth quarter to win going away 89-69.

For the Bears, Kanayo Obi-Rapu led the way with 25 points, 8 assists and 7 rebounds. The Junior scored 62 points over the three days to lead the Bears offense.

The Bears had five seniors who played their last game in a New Garden Uniform. Cameron Williams, Mason Wyrick, Noah Poulos , Juan Urena and Kyle Warner ended their careers on a high note.

                       1st  2nd  3rd  4th  Final
   New Garden Friends  25   26   10   28    89
   New Hope Christian  11   17   18   23    69

New Garden Friends
Kanayo Obi-Rapu – 25 points, 8 assists, 7 rebounds
Cameron Williams – 16 points, 6 rebounds, 5 steals
Mason Wyrick – 14 points (4 of 6 threes), 5 rebounds
Ikenna Smart – 12 points, 8 rebounds, 2 blocks
Isaiah Manderson – 10 points, 11 rebounds, 2 blocks
Juan Urena – 4 points
Noah Poulos – 3 points
Kyle Warner – 3 points
Kingsley Nzekwe – 2 points

New Hope Christian
Ryan Johnson – 21 points
Carlos Rankin – 12 points
Nolen Gerald – 12 points
DeShawn Williams – 10 points
Kai Shaw – 4 points
Malick Dime – 4 points
Milan Dostic – 4 points
Tobias Edwards – 2 points

Submitted by David Secor