Wesleyan Girls Roll; Greensboro Day Boys Win on Last-Second Shot – Wyatt Smith Reporting

GIRLS:

The Wesleyan Lady Trojans knocked off the Lady Bengals by a score of 61-38 in an overpowering effort on Friday night in High Point at Wesleyan. The Lady Trojans were led in scoring by Anna Hamacher who scored 16, and the Bengals’ leading scorer was Gloria Smith who pitched in 9 in her team’s losing effort. The Lady Trojans also had a big boost from Shaniya Jones who put up 14 points and had several assists.

The Bengals fall to (13-14) overall and (2-2) in PACIS play with the loss, as the Trojans improve to (20-5) overall and maintain first place in the PACIS with the win, now holding a record of (5-0).

 

1Q:  GDS-    5     WES-   14

2Q:  GDS-   15   WES-   30

3Q:  GDS-   29   WES-   46

4Q:  GDS-   38   WES-   61


GREENSBORO DAY SCORING:

Gloria Smith: 9pts

Alexandria Harris: 7pts

Mahlon Brady: 7pts

Maddy Murdock: 6pts

Chloe Brewington: 6pts

Madison Head: 3pts


WESLEYAN SCORING:

Anna Hamacher: 16pts

Shaniya Jones: 14pts

Jarah Bailey: 9pts

Makayla Williams: 8pts

Bre Wave: 4pts

Kayla Dar: 3pts

Shelley McRae: 1pt


BOYS:

 

Greensboro Day’s Solomon Smith’s play has revolved around his defense this season, but it was an assist to Will Dillard that made Smith the hero of the game on Friday night as the Bengals beat the Wesleyan Christian Trojans by a score of 55-53. Smith’s defense was still a factor, however, and he also added eight points offensively to help lead his team to the big conference victory.

The Bengals jumped out to an early lead, with J.P. Moorman scoring his team’s first eight points. The Bengals led the majority of the first quarter until Wesleyan went on a quick 6-0 run that made the score 13-12 in favor of the home Trojans. Greensboro Day responded, gaining momentum from a Pearce Landry three-pointer, and two baskets from Solomon Smith – one at the buzzer—to make the score 19-15 at the end of the first quarter.

The first half saw nine lead changes and five ties. In the last four minutes of the first half, the Trojans went on a 14-7 run that put them ahead by one point – 31-30.

Greensboro Day reversed Wesleyan’s run in the third quarter and outscored the Trojans 15-10.

The final play of the third quarter was a feed from Smith to John Newman Jr., who dunked the ball with 0.3 seconds remaining on the clock to increase the Bengal lead to six points.

There were times in the second half where Greensboro Day could have increased their lead to double digits, making it harder for their opponent to come back, but the Bengals just couldn’t get the shots to fall when they needed to pull away.

The Trojans star of the night was David Caraher, a Houston Baptist commit, who stepped up on defense, especially when 6’8” Trojan junior Jalen Hoard fouled out with 4:11 remaining in the contest. Caraher finished with 20 points in the game.

The fourth quarter was a thriller, down to the last seconds.

Wesleyan senior Brendan Austin hit two big three pointers, a minute apart. The first pulled his team within three points and the second made it a two point game. It was a basket by Wesleyan’s Aaron Wiggins that tied the game at 53 with 2:55 to play, however, that put the pressure on the two teams to get the winning basket.

That basket came in the final seconds – 1.8 seconds remaining—as Will Dillard broke coverage and Smith found him for an open left-handed lay in. Dillard, the Bengals’ junior, made the open shot and won the game for his team.

Dillard had practiced that play over and over in practice, and, apparently, practice makes perfect.

“It’s just a matter of what we do in practice,” Dillard said. “A little baby bang, one-two, right into it. It finally worked out after all the times we do it in practice.”

Teamwork was key, according to Smith.

“I was prepared; I knew when to pass it,” he said. “I passed it and (Dillard) got it. I knew it was going in.”

Greensboro Day head coach Freddy Johnson echoed Smith’s sentiment.

“It was a great read by Solomon,” Johnson said. “It was a great bounce pass and we did a great job of spreading them out down to the paint and executing.

Johnson called Smith the key to the team’s success.

“When he’s in there defensively he is the glue,” Johnson said. “The guys trust that if their man gets by them he is going to be there.”

The Bengals were able to get Wesleyan stars Ian Steere and Jaylen Hoard in foul trouble early and the two scored eight points combined.

The game’s leading scorer was the Trojans’ David Caraher, who scored 20 points. John Newman led Greensboro Day scorers with 14.

Wesleyan has now dropped both conference games to Greensboro Day, which was ranked 24th this past week in the AP Boys Basketball Poll. The Trojans fall to (24-4) overall and (3-2) in the PACIS.

Greensboro Day is in the driver’s seat in the PACIS now, as they remain undefeated in conference play with the win over Wesleyan Friday night, and a record of (4-0) and (28-3) overall.

 

1Q:  GDS-    19     WES-   15

2Q:  GDS-    30     WES-   31

3Q:  GDS-    47     WES-   41

4Q:  GDS-    55     WES-   53


GREENSBORO DAY SCORING:

John Newman: 14pts

J.P. Moorman: 12pts

Jordan Perkins: 9pts

Solomon Smith: 8pts

Will Dillard: 6pts

Pearce Landry: 6pts


WESLEYAN SCORING:

David Caraher: 20pts

Brendan Austin: 8pts

Aaron Wiggins: 6pts

Jaylen Hoard: 6pts

Drew Greene: 5pts

Shawn Walker, Jr.: 4pts

Ian Steere: 2pts

Khyrie Thompson: 2pts

7 thoughts on “Wesleyan Girls Roll; Greensboro Day Boys Win on Last-Second Shot – Wyatt Smith Reporting

  1. Very childish indeed! @Jacob Sterling, seemly you have questions you would like answered regarding my nephew, Will Dillard that’s not appropriate for social media; therefore; I would like to offer you a way to get ALL of your questions answered. Feel free to call me @ 706.231.1263. I would be honored to share anything you would like to know about Will since you find him so interesting. Thank you!

  2. Will is a gentleman and a scholar…He was big when he was little…Big as a young kid and playing big now as a young man that is having success on the basketball court…

  3. This is what comes with playing at GDS. GDS is the Duke of local schools. You either love them or hate them and there is no middle ground. When you win as often as GDS against all teams but especially against teams at the level of a WES the haters will always come out. WES and GDS continue to produce some of the best match ups year after year. They both continue to have and develop some of the best talent that this area and the state has to offer. Most of the public school games look so boring after seeing teams like GDS and WES play night after night. SW is the only public team in the triad worth seeing on any given night.

  4. Southwest is a very good team. However, I have to respectfully disagree that they’re the only public school team in the triad worth watching. West Forsyth, Mount Tabor, NW Guilford (even without Turner), and Winston-Salem Prep are all worth the price of admission.

    Matter of fact, Tabor owns a win over a team that has defeated Greensboro Day. Not many around that can say that.

    As for Will Dillard, he’s an outstanding player. One of my favorites to watch in the entire state.

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