Wesleyan at High Point Christian Varsity Boys

Wesleyan – 61
High Point Christian Academy – 56

   Wesleyan                      10   10   17   24
   High Point Christian Academy  16    7   14   19

Wesleyan: Theo Pinson 13, Montay Brandon 22, JaQuel Richmond 12, DeShaunte Carelock 2, Trey Chapman 2, Michael Buckland 3, Josh Woodward 7

HPCA (23-1): Diante Baldwin 7, 8 rbs, 8 assists, Jackson Kent 9, Isiah Gill 10, Michael Obacha 16, 9 rbs, Stevie Williams 2, Joey McLean 10, Dillon Roser 2.

HPCA will play at home against FCDS on Tuesday.

21 thoughts on “Wesleyan at High Point Christian Varsity Boys

  1. Can anyone please explain to me, with a valid argument, that Keith Gatlin is not a good coach? People have been commenting on this website for three years now, saying that he was not a good coach. He clearly “out-coached” Brandon Clifford tonight, and people have been saying how Clifford is such a good coach, and I agree. Clifford is a great coach, but saying a guy like Keith Gatlin isn’t is obviously foolish, especially after tonight. Can someone answer that for me?

  2. Ogbodo had early foul trouble and that let Wesleyan back in the game. He is not a scorer, but a really good defend and rebounder. With him out and Obacha still visible struggling with his ankle, Wesleyan was able to hurt HPCA at the rim. Surprised to see HPCA go down, but it took an awful lot for it to happen. They couldn’t buy a bucket, and still had a chance. It was an exciting game, this will probably help HPCA in the end.

  3. Wesleyan has 3 of the top 4 players in the 3a private school state. The other player is Anton Gill at Ravenscroft.

    I wouldn’t say he is a good X and O coach.

    Good / big win for the Trojans. Congrats!

  4. I wanted an argument not an opinion. Coaches can be great AND have great players. The level of players Gatlin coaches doesn’t take away from his ability to coach. Valid argument anyone?

  5. here’s a question for you. Is Leonard Hamilton a better coach than Roy Williams or Mike Krzyzewski? Teams get beat, it happens. What did you see that led you to believe that Gatlin was such a good coach tonight? They won a big game, but what does that prove? Not sure what you are wanting people to say, but his players won for him tonight. They made the plays and capitalized on HPCA’s mistakes with their athleticism. If that means he “out-coached” Clifford then I guess he did.

  6. Here is the problem. Saying Leonard Hamilton being a better coach is not only a very poor analogy but it also shows that you didn’t read the other comments right. You are trying to compare college to high school and there is simply no comparison. Every ACC coach is goning to be a top notch coach. Even in losing seasons, ACC coaches know the game and how to coach it, their players may just not be good enough to compete with top shelf competition on a nightly basis. High school basketball is way different. Coaches can be absolutely horrendous, or fantastic. People have been saying for too long that Keith Gatlin, is not a good coach and honestly he deserves respect. His wins against GDS last year and HPCA this year show he is good enough to compete with other good coaches. If it all comes down to players making plays then should Brandon Clifford get any credit for being undefeated until tonight? HPCA’s players just made plays and capitalized on 23 teams mistakes this year if you want to look at it that way.

    The reason you didn’t read the comment right is because your analogy implied that I said Gatlin was better than Clifford at coaching. I not only didn’t say that, but I even said Bradon Clifford was an excellent coach. I don’t think it is fair to compare coaches like that and say which one is better (however I think anyone would agree that Coach Johnson has solidified his spot as top coach in the area on track record alone). I am not going to say Gatlin is better, but he takes way too much heat, most of which is unwarranted and without substance.

    Tonight, I saw Gatlin use four different defenses to try and confuse HPCA’s guards, that seemed to work, especially in the third quarter, but he shouldn’t get credit for that should he, it is just his play call. I stood behind the bench and watched him draw up a play that they used four consecutive time and got four layups from( two for Montay Brandon, ine for Josh Woodward, and one for Trey Chapman). Those layups, to me, were the turning point of the momentum. Wesleyan’s bench has been criticized all year for not showing up to play, and rightfully so. But tonight he had them as prepared and as attuned to the game as they have been all season. That is all part of coaching and but since its Keith Gatlin and they have good players he shouldn’t get credit.

    Also:

    @ Local

    HPCA was playing better with Ogbodo out of the game. All of their runs that sparked them, with the expection to the 12-2 start was with Chuk on the bench. Jaquel Richmond is the player that makes Wesleyan tick and is who I think is their most important player. He picked up his third foul one minute into the second half. That isn’t severe foul trouble but knowing your one cheap call away from the bench, it is pretty dire. He was left in the game (which also goes back to coaching) and he didn’t pick up another foul the rest of the game, plus he continued to get points, rebounds, assists, and more importantly, maintain his role as floor general for the team. Fouls are part of the game, and the game was called pretty loosely already so there is no need to bring foul trouble into account,especially when it affects both teams.

  7. I will argue that he is not a good coach. Honestly, from a talent stand point, he has the best this area has had to offer in years (yes WCDS had Miller-Bello-Ike but Miller went out 10 games in). X’s and O’s he has to be one of the worst around. They run 1 set (flex cut) and that is it! It helps to have Montay running a Isolation out front to cause the east dump down for two once he blows by the helpless defender. And honestly, how can you say that he out coached Clifford? All he did was put a 2-3 zone on and HPCA just happened to have one of those nights. No disrespect to either team, both played their hearts out but if you know anything about the COACHING of basketball then you know the guy just doesnt have it. (heck of a player!)

  8. Fouls on a 6’11” center who is averaging over 10reb a game against an athletic team like Wesleyan who scored a lot of their point on second chances does play a factor in the game. Saying it didn’t is absurd. Obacha being hurt is also hurting HPCA and it has for a couple weeks now, he isn’t even playing in non-big games. i would expect HPCA to rest him for a while for the last couple games and playoffs. Wesleyan did a good job winning that ball game. They beat a really good basketball team. How they acted afterwards, they need to hope they can do it again.

  9. HPCA has played extremely well all year as a team with a great coach. Gatlin has very athletic players that play as individuals and not as a team. Gatlin relies on their athleticism and rarely coaches his players. HPCA lost the game as opposed to Wesleyan winning it. Obacha is injured and Kent was way off last night. Every good team (23-1) is going to have a bad game. Gatlin chest bumped his players, danced on the court, and they all acted like they had won the State Championship. Congrats on their big win but they need a lesson in winning with class.

  10. I find it humorous that even in victory, people give Wesleyan no credit. How can people still say they are playing as individuals when Montay Brandon finished with 7 assists, Jaquel Richmond had 5 assists, and Theo Pinson had 4 assists. Their “big three” combines for 16 assists and they played as individuals? I think that wrap should be over. Just give them some credit for once. Jackson Kent missed a few wide open threes, but he missed a lot of very well contested shots, but I am sure Wesleyan’s defense had nothing to do with it. Why can’t people just consider it a good game and quit making excuses? And what is wrong with Gatlin chest bumping his players? Can he not be excited about winning? Brandon Clifford was running on the court and celebrating with his players last year when HPCA beat Wesleyan at Wesleyan and nobody said he won without class. The fact is that it is a rivalry game and celebrating is expected.

  11. board. Coach Johnson, Price, and Kent have earned their spurs. Corbett does a great job, and he does it at a public school. Wonder if Clifford would gave had the same level of success if he had not benefitted by inheriting aprogram that was already on the way up and then getting 3 transfers from Page (hmm!!!) and then the Nigerian player from Oak Ridge. There is definitely a double standard in coach and player evaluations
    In Guilfird county—point being the lack of credit to Corbett and the double standard applied to Gatlin. After all, they had just beaten the #7 (LOL) team in the country that was 23-0, and they are kids. Enjoy the moment kids!!!!!@

  12. ^ A team that was “on the way up?” The year before Clifford came to HPCA the team went 16-16 and arguably their best two players graduated. They definitely weren’t on their way up.

  13. Also, the team he took over had not ever won a playoff game. His first team started 2-13. Yep, on their way up.

  14. Trojans played well last night… HP shot poorly and didn’t handle the zone defense well… Congrats for the victory…. Coach Gatlin was not professional….His behavior was not acceptable for a HS Coach….really for a coach at any level…. He acted as if he had never won a game before…. If he worked for me…. I would have fired him before the newspaper interview….. He my opinion he owes the HP Coaches an apology…

  15. Brandon Clifford has done a good job of letting his kids play and they have played well for HPCA to the tune of (23-1)…..Why all the heat on Coach Gatlin, what did he do wrong? Wasn’t something in particular or are the Cougar fans just smarting over this loss….Coach Gatlin is in a very tough position….Former high level ACC player coaching on the high school level in this upper crust PACIS league with DI caliber players that are supposed to never lose…..I don’t know how coaches like Coach Gatlin and Coach Muggsy Bouges come out ahead at this level….The expectations are way too high and you can’t be having much fun with all the pressure to win…..Let’s relax and have some fun and enjoy the games…

  16. Mr Durham… Nobody is taking anything from the Wesleyan players… They played well and deserved to win the game…. Coach Gatlin acts like a bad YMCA coach… You defend him…. Accuse HP of being a sore loser… Coach Gatlin is out on the court chest thumping with players on timeouts… Whipping his arms to the fans … It was unprofessional… If he had done that to Coach Freddy Johnson you wouldn’t be defending him…. You would have a 100 comments instead of 15….. Having fun is fine…. Sportmanship is still important…..

  17. I do appreciate your opinion and your input…I wasn’t there and I didn’t see what happened….You that were there know what happened far better than I do…I recently sat behind the WES bench during their game vs. Greenfield at the Greensboro Coliseum and I know that Coach Gatlin seemed very frustrated with the way his team was playing that day….Sounds like the team needed that win last night very badly and maybe they did go a bit overboard in the celebration…..Not to say that HPCA was sore loser, but one thing is for certain, this sure makes the PACIS even more interesting as WES heads to GDS this coming Friday night….

    I remember a game that was I coaching many years ago and we were playing our rival and it was the Friday before Christmas and I didn’t even realize at the time how big the rivalry between the two teams was….We started winning and I started smacking this wall behind our bench and I just kept smacking that wall as we went on to win the game and the home team/crowd didn’t appreciated it too much, but I didn’t mean any harm by it….Sure had a sore hand the next day, but it was great to get the win…..I remember another time when our team lost and I congratulated the other team on how well their team played in beating our team and my team heard it and hated me for that……You never know what is going to happen in these games and let’s hope the good competition between HPCA, WES and GDS continues…..This is turning into a great season with these three teams battling for a top spot in the PACIS……

    In looking back at last night’s game, how do other HPCA fans feel about this…I’m sure Coach Clifford wants to get this game behind his team and start preparing for the Cougars contest…..

  18. Only sore losers would think that celebrating a win is unprofessional. I would expect nothing less from a supporter of HPCA. If anyone is concerned with professionalism or sportsmanship, why not explain the Twitter hashtag #wuckfesleayn the HPCAers started? Very classy. And very godly, considering it’s a Christian school. I realize that doesn’t come from the coach and that the school cannot control what the students post, but Clifford has been instigating this crap since being at HPCA. If anyone denies that, then you don’t know what you’re talking about. Period.

    Contrast that with Coach Gatlin, who is a well-respected family man who knows most, if not all, the high school students at Wesleyan and has taken a sincere interest in the lives of all students and serves as a mentor to many. He is well-loved and respected because he treats others with respect. I can’t figure out why he’s so villified. Clearly, anyone who talks trash about him doesn’t know him.

  19. Gatlin whipped his arms to the fans of his own team and to his own student section. Clifford did the same thing last year at Wesleyan and I film the games and have the tape to show it. Will you admit Clifford was unprofessional? Would you have fired him then, even though you support him now? People act like others aren’t allowed to enjoy a victory. Suck it up and accept the loss and stop taking out your bitter resentment on people you don’t even know.

  20. I spoke out earlier on here in support of coach Keith Gatlin and I’ll do the same for coach Brandon Clifford….I don’t think Coach Clifford would instigate any negative push for the HPCA students to talk trash to the WES students or players…..Both coaches can get caught up in the heat of the moment and I do believe that they would try and motivate their players and even get their students involved in supporting their respective teams…..Both of these men are good coaches and they have done a good job of making this a very good rivalry/heated rivalry…..

    It looks like as far as the PACIS rivalries go, GDS -WES is #1
    HPCA-WES #2 and
    HPCA-GDS #3……

    The GDS-WES rematch is this coming Friday night at GDS and I plan to be there for that one….When do WES and HPCA play again??????

    Send me the answer to andy@greensborosports.com……

    I think we ought to go ahead and cap this post/thread at 21 and cool off for a while….Don’t want to see this get out of hand and there be a bunch of name-calling and that type of content….Good luck to all three this week with GDS, WES and HPCA…….Solid teams, solid players and solid coaches all the way around and the rivalries are really heating up……The NCISAA 3-A could easliy come from one of these three teams this year….Let’s take a break from the heat and rest up for next week….

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