Lions fall in a pair of tight games

ACA basketball teams come up short on the court

Jonathan Bennett
Contributor
The Valley Echo
February 2, 2021

In a season full of close losses, the Asheville Christian Academy boys basketball team managed to let two more games slip out of their hands against two of the best teams in the state. 

On the road against Quality Education Academy, the Lions jumped out to an early lead taking a 21-12 advantage in the first half, but a series of made 3-pointers by QEA closed the gap and propelled them to a 28-27 halftime lead. In the second half, the teams traded leads but the Lions struggled shooting in the second half and were unable to keep pace with QEA. 

The Lions trailed by just two points with a minute and a half to go but missed shots by ACA and subsequent free throw makes by QEA gave QEA the 56-46 win. The difference in the contest came down to three-point shooting. QEA shot 45% from behind the three-point arc compared to just 8% for ACA. 

The Lions were led by senior Chris Harris who finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Junior De’Ante Green chipped in with 10 points.

Junior De’Ante Green scored 10 points in a losing effort for the Lions against Quality Education Academy, Jan. 28, and led the team with 14 points two nights later in a loss to Cannon. Photo by Fred McCormick

In an eerily similar contest, the Lions took on the team ranked third in N.C. by MaxPreps and the defending N.C. Independent Schools Athletic Association 4-A champion, Cannon School. The Lions once again got off to a great start taking a 33-25 halftime advantage over the highly talented Cougars. 

However, a flurry of 3-point shots by Cannon to start the third quarter led to a 17-0 run and put the Lions behind by 9 before the halfway point in the third quarter. The Lions were able to regroup cutting the Cougar lead to 2 points late in the fourth quarter but missed shots by the Lions and made free throws by the Cannon School helped the Cougars secure the 65-55 victory. 

The core issue for the Lions was their inability to make 3point shots. Cannon School finished the game shooting 41% from three while ACA managed to shoot only 17% from behind the arc.  Green led the Lions with 14 points and 5 rebounds while Kavan Horton added 10 points.

ACA senior Nahndi Smith led the Lions with 15 points in a Jan. 28 loss to Quality Education Academy. Photo by Fred McCormick

The ACA girls basketball team only took to the floor once last week and ran into a buzzsaw at Quality Education. The Lions found themselves down by 10 at the end of the first quarter and went into the halftime break trailing 34-16.  The Lions eventually fell 61-34. Senior Nandhi Smith led the Lions with 15 points and sophomore EP Sluder added 9 points in the tough loss.

For more information about Asheville Christian Academy visit www.ashevillechristian.org.  For more info about ACA athletics follow them on Twitter @ACAAthletics or their MaxPreps page.