The Hargrave Tigers defeated archrival Fork Union Military Academy in the championship game of the 2022 First Piedmont Corp. Invitational on Saturday. Both the Tigers and the Blue Devils came in ranked in the top 5 of the national polls, setting the stage for a classic battle in the longest standing rivalry in all of prep school basketball. Playing in front of a raucous crowd of Cadets in Walter Davis Gymnasium, Hargrave was able to control the second half to lead by as many as 20 points down the stretch, eventually settling in for an 84-69 victory.
The Tigers used a balanced, unselfish approach to earn the big victory. ’22 Keon Thompson, Jr. led all scorers with 15 points (7 rebounds, 4 steals), while ’22 Christian Moore (14 points, 4 3ptm, 3 steals), ’22 Leland Walker (13 points, 7 assists), and ’22 Justin Taylor (12 points, 4 assists) also pitched in with double figures. ’22 Elijah Gray (13 points, 12 rebounds) and ’22 Madison Durr (11 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists, 4 steals) both came through with key double-doubles to help lead the Tigers to victory.
The win moves Hargrave to 33-4 on the season, with one more regular-season game to play (Tuesday, March 1st, 5:00 pm).
The Tigers are expected to be a top seed in the National Prep Championships slated to be held March 8th-11th at The University of Saint Joseph in West Hartford, CT.
The Hargrave Tigers would like to thank Mr. and Mrs. Ben Davenport and the entire First Piedmont Corp. for their support of Tiger Basketball!
