Crusaders get, then allow 100 in tournament
Dec. 30—Grace Christian's trip to the Terry Walls Holiday Invitational in Goldsboro has been a take of scoring avalanches. First, the Crusaders pulled one off Wednesday night, but then the tables turned Thursday and Grace was on the receiving end of a triple-digit final score.
The Crusaders opened the event's Moses Tufts Bracket with a 101-71 victory over Living Water Christian of Jacksonville, but in Thursday's second round, ran into a strong Trinity Christian team from Fayetteville and saw their six-game winning streak snapped with a rocky 100-50 defeat at the hands of Trinity.
The outcome was somewhat surprising, as the teams had just one common opponent this season in Freedom Christian, and Grace had won by seven at Freedom, while Trinity beat them by 15 at home. However, the Crusaders struggled to put the ball into the basket and also had problems stopping Trinity at all.
Ma'kyi Butler led the Crusaders with 23 points, while Nate Jones added 13.
Grace 101, Living Water 71In Wednesday's first game, Grace won by 29 and could have won by much more. The Crusaders held a 57-38 lead at halftime and were up 87-51 after three, but slowed down the pace considerably as the game wound down. The Warriors (6-6) outscored Grace 20-14 in the fourth quarter.
Five different Grace players hit double figures in the win, led by Ma'kyi Butler with 26 points. Nate Jones added 23, Grant Jacques 19, Matt Foster 15 and Jimmy Zimmerman 10.
Grace will host Oak Forest on Thursday night in their first game of 2024.
