The College Heights Christian boys basketball team opened the season with a 64-51 win Tuesday night over Arkansas school Providence Academy at the College Heights Athletic Complex.
The game proved to be a showcase for Providence Academy’s perimeter shooting against College Heights’ interior tandem of senior Curtis Davenport and junior Caleb Quade.
Providence Academy made 11 3-point baskets in the contest, while College Heights received a combined 53 points from Davenport and Quade, most of them inside the paint.
Davenport provided the Cougars with their lone 3-point basket of the evening.
College Heights closed the game out strong after Providence Academy made it a 48-44 game early in the fourth quarter.
College Heights rattled off 14 unanswered to push it back to 62-44 in the final minute.
“We played hard,” College Heights coach Eric Johnson said. “We made a lot of mistakes, but we did enough things right to offset those mistakes. I was pleased. They got within four and we made a good run to change that. We got the ball inside to Curtis, even though they were trying to take it away from him, and some of the others stepped up and did some good things.
“Right now, we’re not an outside-shooting team,” Johnson added. “We can be or maybe will be later, but that’s alright. We’ll just stay inside…a little better percentage. Defensive wise, we played good defense most of the time. We had some breakdowns getting back on defense and losing their shooters. Overall, for the first game, it was a good win.”
College Heights never trailed Tuesday, coming straight out of the gate with the game’s first 11 points, and the Cougars held Providence Academy scoreless for three long stretches of the game — the first 4 minutes and 25 seconds of the game, the first 5:39 of the second quarter, and that chunk of the fourth that saw College Heights extend the lead to 18 points.
Davenport and Quade scored 29 straight College Heights points from the first through third quarters, a streak broken with senior Ben Thomas’ first two points of the season.
Davenport led all scorers with 32 points, 22 of them scored in the second half, and Quade added 21 points.
Ethan Ukena finished with seven points and stepped in defensively to take a pair of player control fouls against Providence Academy and sophomore point guard Jayce Walker, making his first varsity start, hit both free throws for his first two points of the season.
Senior sharpshooter Carter Keen heated up in the second half to lead Providence Academy with 16 points and freshman guard Stiles Hunter scored all 11 of his points in the first half.
College Heights, 1-0 overall, returns to the court after Thanksgiving break next Tuesday in the Pierce City Invitational against the seventh seed and tournament host Pierce City. The Cougars are defending tournament champions.
Providence Academy girls 51, College Heights 34
Like the varsity boys nightcap, Providence Academy never trailed in the varsity girls contest.
“Providence is a very good team,” College Heights coach John Blankenship said. “They have size and strength inside and very good perimeter shooters. They were a tough matchup for us, especially for our first game of the season. They exposed some weaknesses that we can address in practice that will make us a better team. We competed much better in the second half only being outscored by four points. I was proud of our effort in the second half. We can build off of that. This young group will improve quickly. They have a strong work ethic and a desire to learn and get better.”
The Patriots built their first double-digit lead after scoring the first eight points of the second quarter and kept it at double-digits the rest of the night except for once at 33-24 following the Cougars’ biggest scoring run of the game with their own eight straight points.
Providence Academy pushed it back out to 42-26 entering the fourth, though, as turnovers came back to plague College Heights as they had most of the game.
The Patriots received 47 of their points from the quartet of Lydia Shaddox (15), Karolina Karaga (13), Ava Maner (10), and Anna Imbo (9).
College Heights’ Libby Fanning opened her sophomore season with a team-high 15 points and 10 rebounds, while junior Maddy Colin added six points and five boards. Senior Jayli Johnson scored four, freshman Allie Stout and sophomore Ava Lett three each, sophomore Kinley Marsh two, and sophomore Molly Long one.
The Cougars, 0-1 on the season, will look for their first win of the season when they return to action Nov. 28 in the Diamond Wildcats’ Gem City Classic. College Heights will play McAuley Catholic at 8:30 p.m.
