Crusaders avenge loss in Chatham rematch
Dec. 9—When Grace Christian lost to the Chatham Thunder on the last day of November, it was a game the Crusaders would have liked to have had back. Despite a late rally, Grace came up a point short and lost for the fifth time in a row.
While there are no do-overs, there are second chances, and the Crusaders made the most of theirs Thursday night.
Grace had to travel to Chatham again for the rematch, two days after another late comeback resulted in a Crusader win over Seaforth. They made it two in a row over Chatham County with a dominant second half and a 72-58 revenge win over the Thunder.
Grace (4-6) trailed by eight points at halftime, but stormed into the lead in the third quarter and then closed the contest out by outscoring the Thunder (9-4) 20-7 down the stretch. The win broke a four-game winning streak for the Chatham area homeschool team, which had last lost on Nov. XX, when they dropped an 11-point setback to Cary Christian, the NCISAA's second-ranked 3A team.
The Crusaders are ranked 17th in the same class and well below the Thunder in MaxPreps' overall rankings, but have been an up-and-down team breaking in several new starters while moving up from 2A after a 23-win campaign a year ago. They got their usual strong outing from senior Ma'kyi Butler, who put in 25 points, and he got help from Nate Jones (14), Matt Foster (10), Caleb Ellis (9) and Jimmy Zimmerman (7).
The Crusaders played for the third time in four nights Friday when former conference rival Thales-Apex came to town. They travel to The Burlington School Tuesday night.
Grace Christian 51, GVP 35
The state's top-ranked high school women's team hit the road and played in the Capital Area Classic showcase on Thursday evening, defeating Georgetown Visitation Prep 51-35 in a a game played at Sidwell Friends School in Washington, D.C.
The Cubs are an established DC-area powerhouse that has won the Independent School League (ISL) championship of the metro DC area 18 times since 1987, including in 2023. In defeating them, the Lady Crusaders (8-0) felled their third reigning state champion this season.
The Lady Crusaders will remain in the DC area and play again on Saturday as part of the She Got Game showcase on Saturday at 10:40 a.m. This game will be against Elizabeth Seton at The St. James in Springfield, Va.
